Commander Nakoma Kai, a (mostly) reformed screw-up with a secret, puts life and limb on the line salvaging wrecks. The ship's an antique, the pay's erratic, and her crewmates the usual mishmash of misfits ready to breach the boundaries of civilized space... for a fee.

But when they find a survivor on a ship eight months missing in the void, a quick death is kinder than the horror taking hold of the crew.