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A long-absent freighter returns to a lunar base carrying energy supplies of enormous importance to Earth. An armed attack turns its homecoming into a crisis, forcing those aboard the ship and station to confront both immediate danger and the personal cost of years spent apart.

On another world, Aon and Elena's relationship crosses the dividing line between rival resource-seeking nations. Hostility among the settlers and an outbreak involving the planet's unfamiliar life threaten their future, leaving survival dependent on understanding a world their superiors regard chiefly as something to exploit.