Breel is abruptly fired from her dead-end job at the Beach, dismantling junked spaceships - a job she only took to help support her ailing father. She's convinced things can't get any worse; until people start shooting at her.

Breel sees her father sacrifice himself so that she can escape, to be chased offworld for a secret she didn't know she possessed. Pursued by agents of the ruthless and politically powerful Church of Second Light, she falls in with the crew of the Scavenger, a rag-tag group of misfits determined to thwart the Church's ambitions, which threaten the future of humanity. Breel finds herself at the centre of events, as only she can locate a mysterious RIP - a wormhole that will leave humanity vulnerable to an ancient enemy - and only she stands a chance of closing it.