Ed Flynn, former Marine, is not enjoying his retirement.  As owner and captain of the salvage starfreighter Nosferatu, Ed spends his days cruising the fringes of explored space.  The monotony of asteroid surveys and cargo runs has Ed yearning for his days in uniform---until a routine visit to Zashek Outpost turns into a nightmare.

Billions of lives depend on the outcome of a deadly game, in which Ed finds himself set up as an expendable pawn.  Flynn and his crew of fallen angels are thrust into a desperate race to save a kidnapped child and prevent a high level political assassination; the first shots of an interstellar war…