Owen sacrificed a lot to make it to the top of his starship’s power structure—his youth, a relationship or two, maybe a piece of his integrity. As the next foreman, he will be answerable only to the teachings of the ship’s long-deceased visionary. With a dedicated crew and a course set for humanity’s new home, Owen’s charge will be to keep outrunning the machines that wiped out life on Earth almost two centuries ago.

When a bomb detonates on the eve of his selection, Owen hopes the disruption will be temporary. But his friend Pari is investigating what happened, and she insists the perpetrator is showing the way to a tightly guarded secret. Keeping faith with Pari risks conflict with the ship’s ideological enforcer, whose support has been critical for Owen’s ascent.

Blindsided by misplaced trust, Owen finds himself running from the crew he had been destined to lead. His journey with Pari into the vessel’s forgotten past uncovers a conspiracy more radical than either of them had imagined. Owen must decide whether to sustain a delusion binding the crew together or expose a reality that could tear them apart. The truth means giving up everything he has worked so hard to earn—and discovering who exactly it is that he has become.