Terrence Compton is one of Earth's greatest admirals, a warrior almost without equal. Alongside his oldest friend and brilliant colleague, Augustus Garret, he and his forces have saved Earth from invasion by the genocidal robotic legions of the ancient First Imperium's insane computer Regent. There is just one problem. The First Imperium was held back not by military victory, but by the disruption of the sole warp gate connecting the two domains...and Compton and 300 of his ships are trapped on the wrong side, surrounded by the Regent's vast fleets and cut off from Earth. Pursued by their deadly enemy, Compton and his fleet must flee into the vast and unknown darkness of unexplored space, in search of safety, fuel, supplies...and ultimately a new home. The great admiral knows the one thing his people cannot do is seek a way back, a trail the enemy could follow to Earth. He is determined to prevent that from happening, even if the cost is dissension and mutiny. Their journey will take Compton and his people deep into the heart of the First Imperium, to the silent, windswept worlds where the ancient race that built the Regent once dwelled...and uncover the lost secrets of that great civilization's mysterious fall 500,000 years ago