To protect her young daughter from a madman and a tyrant, Rachel Pryne must trust an enemy, one of the alien warriors who conquered Earth.
It's 2032, the Ohnenrai orbit the planet and human reproduction is failing. A trained medic, Rachel struggles to protect her seven-year-old daughter, Pearl, from the predation of their penal colony's leader. Having fathered the girl by force, Cyrus intends to remove her from her home on her eighth birthday, only six weeks away.
When an injured Ohnenrai soldier appears in her yard one stormy evening, Rachel doesn't realize she's found an unlikely champion. But Ehtishem Mahle's dislike of Cyrus is immediately evident and, desperate to keep Pearl safe, Rachel decides the devil she doesn't know is better than the one she does.
But the Ohnenrai face their own impending doom at the hands of a greater enemy. Rachel's decision to trust Ehtishem, places her and Pearl on an unlikely path to the stars and makes Rachel one of the most important and endangered people to ever set foot aboard an Ohnenrai starship.
The only possible solution to the Ohnenrai's extinction lies within Rachel, but all she wants to do is protect her daughter and see Earth's alien conquerors go straight to hell.