The Vens have landed on Kepos, and we're all going to die. The thought races through Dione's head. Without a working jump drive, she and her friends are trapped on Kepos with the quarreling colonists. As the Vens prepare to attack, the two opposing settlements, the Aratians and Ficarans, are too busy feuding to take the threat seriously. If Dione can't get the colonists to work together, the Vens will end every single life on Kepos, including her own. She knows she can't save everyone, but can she save anyone?