Bain Kern wanted to crew a starship and explore the galaxies. But as an orphan on a colony world in the path of an alien invasion he had no real hope of his dreams ever coming true.

Bain Kern wanted to crew a starship and explore the galaxies. But an orphan on a colony world in the path of an alien invasion had no real hope of his dreams ever coming true. Then he met Captain Lin Fieran of "Sunsinger". The other orphans stepped aboard to flee to safety, but Bain started on the adventure for the rest of his life.

Bain's prayers were answered: Captain Lin Fieran wanted him to stay on Sunsinger and be her crew for another evacuation trip to Lenga. When they got there, everyone had already been evacuated, so they went to the next world in the path of the Mashrami invasion. That's when things got complicated by pirates and by people who didn't want to leave their homes. To make matters worse, Bain knew Lin wanted him to stay on Sunsinger with her and Ganfer, just as much as he wanted to stay, but someone in authority was getting in the way. Lin had to keep a secret from him, and if she told him what it was, he might never be allowed back on board.

Bain and Lin meet up with Ranger Captain Gilmore again. Gil has an important mission for Sunsinger's crew: helping test a new device to protect ships from the alien Mashrami. The only problem is, Lin has to get Sunsinger very close to the aliens in order to test it!