Vidan was again reaching out to the stars: sadder and wiser...and cautious, unwilling to repeat the mistakes of the ancestors. The Commonwealth was born, reaching out to lost colonies and establishing new ones, rediscovering lost technology and how to navigate the star-ways. Many of the lost colonies not only survived but thrived--and they remembered their abandonment and the harsh centuries of the Downfall....
Gemar, a lost colony, once belonged to the Conclave. Now it is a member of the Commonwealth. Someone wants Gemar to re-join the Conclave, and wants it badly enough to kill hundreds of people. When Captain Lorian of the Estal'es'cai is one of the victims, the future of the Leaper alliance with the Commonwealth is in jeopardy. Bain and his Spacer friends risk their lives to investigate and protect their Leaper friends. Their efforts bring their dream of the Scout Corps to life.
