In this sequel to Lioness of Cygnus Five, the survival of the colony teeters on the edge. The alien city in which they have taken refuge turns out to be not so abandoned as they'd thought, and Bryant finds himself torn between his love for Aurora and his driving need to restore some of the ancient defences before the Kingdom attacks.

Starvation is beginning to bite as the Kingdom forces tighten their stranglehold around the colonists, forcing them to turn to treasure-hunters and pirates for aid.

Needed on site to spearhead the military resistance to Kingdom invasion, Aurora must send her most trusted people into the heart of enemy territory to beg for supplies and to rescue her baby, with no guarantee that when they return there will be anyone left alive to come home to.

Yet survival may come at too great a cost if Bryant cannot control the secret he is awakening at the heart of Cygnus Five.