Captain Lees Tarillion was a rising star when he graduated from the Imperial Academy. But ten years later, he's still stranded on the frontier protecting three Imperial star systems without hope of advancement.
Summoned by Fleet Admiral Attilio Karsath to a secret meeting, Tarillion is tasked with an impossible mission: find the Lords of the Dark, mythological aliens who are the key to travel between the stars.
Put in competition with a vicious captain intent on climbing the ranks, Tarillion is thrown into the Empire's seedy underbelly where he meets a beautiful, mysterious bounty hunter who may hold the answer to his quest--if she doesn't kill him first.
As Tarillion's hunt for the Lords of the Dark takes him into farthest reaches of the frontier he must confront the demons of his past--and the enemies who threaten the power of the Empire.
This fast-paced space opera novella is a complete, standalone prequel to the upcoming Darkspace Saga trilogy.