Peace is an illusion... For a decade, peace has reigned in interstellar space due to agreements between the Colonial Union, Earth and the alien Conclave. But now the most advanced, intelligent species humans have ever met is on the cusp of a species-defining war. Nothing the Consu does, however, is just about them. The Colonial Union, Earth and the Conclave have been unwillingly dragged into their conflict, and in the most surprising of ways. Gretchen Trujillo is a mid-level bureaucrat in a mundane job within the Colonial Union’s State Department. Until, that is, she’s called to take part in a secret mission that will involve representatives from every powerful faction in space. What she discovers could redefine the destinies of humans and aliens alike... or destroy every one of them.