The human settlers of the Concord worlds are slowly rebuilding the ecosystems and civilizations ravaged by the alien Devastators, who disappeared as abruptly and mysteriously as they had attacked. But now politics sabotage the recovery process as a prosperous world threatens secession, raising the specter of a pernicious war of humans against humans -- and carrying with it rumors of a secret alliance with an enemy even more potent than the dreaded Devastators. Yet one human may be able to turn the tide. On the planet Antar, a damaged young woman struggles to recover her health and independence. Found submerged in an artificial reality -- drugged by sensation, wasting away, with no memories and no past -- Llyn Torfinn now stands at the threshold of adulthood and at the gateway of her deadliest challenge ever: to learn her true identity and destiny. For if Llyn cannot come into her own, and quickly, all of humanity will pay the price.