Returning to Sol System was supposed to be a joyous triumph, but Janlin and the crew of the Jumpship Hope find nothing but trouble on their arrival. The biological nanites they depend on are failing, and a divide grows as the orbital colony argues over how to handle the problem, with Janlin and Gordon squarely at odds.

Diona Jordan, leader of the Mars Colony, is investigating a different way to handle the failing nanites. But her dangerous methods threaten to create an uncontrollable menace.

As discord spreads through the Orbitals, Mars, and even Earth, Janlin struggles to help all the people who need her as it becomes clear that Mars holds the key to everything. Janlin could never betray her friends... but that's exactly what she'll have to do to save them.