The Humano-Spacer war. A dark future conflict in which worlds burn and vast fleets circle in the terrible dance of battle. A war in which one side must exterminate the other to decide the nature of humanity. The Battleship Regal, flagship of the 1073rd Battlefleet, fights against the hive consciousness of the Spacers. In the aftermath of battle she encounters the prototype of a revolutionary new kind of enemy warship. Admiral Jamys Takara, brilliant tactician, brooding and arrogant, is determined to hunt it down. Their pursuit leads through the manifold horrors and destructive technologies of a war in space. As the Admiral becomes increasingly obsessed with the Spacer ship, the tensions within the crew grow and mutiny threatens. At last, alone in a nebulous birth-place of stars, the Battleship Regal will confront her shadow sister in a single combat that will test to the utmost the faith and humanity of her crew.