A society in chains. Space-time in peril. And a smoldering evil on the brink of victory.

The mutant, murderous Quishiks are on the rise.

In ways seen and unseen, the Quishiks have shaped the course of history for ten millennia. Now they threaten an all-out assault on sentient life throughout the universe, and their deadly scourge is soon to ravage an interstellar civilization bound by rigid ideologies and petty taboos.

As this epic drama continues, it falls once again to the retired diplomat, Ungent Draaf, to reset the balance of power. As he continues his galaxy-spanning quest to find the Ootray, whose failed genetic experiments created the Quishiks, the secrets around their disappearance grow more and more convoluted. For the survivors of this ancient species prefer to hide behind an arcane ethical code, and, for humans and symbiotes to defeat the Quishiks, they must first overcome the evil in themselves.

As the eleventh hour approaches and the twilight of interstellar civilization begins, who will find the moral courage to avert soul-crushing destruction?