After having been betrayed, the surviving members of the Clan fled the Trade Pact for Cersi, a world they believe to be their long-lost home. They are accompanied by a lone alien, the human Jason Morgan, the Chosen of their leader, Sira di Sarc. When Cersi proves deadly, they are forced to flee again, this time in a starship mysteriously powered by the M’hir, heading on a course the Clan didn’t set. They land on Brightfall, which seems to be the answer to their hopes: a world full of their kind, and a world, moreover, of peace and advanced technology. Although Morgan makes the inhabitants uneasy, they embrace Sira and her people. But Brightfall is a world with a secret. Buried beneath its surface, quiescent and almost forgotten, is the planet-spanning capital of the Hoveny Concentrix-a city and technology that’s been waiting for the return of those sent to Cersi. A city ready to wake.