Meanwhile, on another side of the universe… Freelance thief Gem ser’Edreth makes the calculated mistake of turning down a commission from the local crime boss. Gem’s hidden past proves an unexpected liability as his plans to leave the planet go catastrophically awry. Suddenly embroiled in interplanetary politics, and a potential interstellar war, in possession of the mysterious Witness for the Telios—an ancient object of power—and an unwanted cousin, Gem discovers that the Witness may hold the key to his salvation—or his undoing.