The 22nd century: The massive starliners that depart from the orbital transit terminals have taken humankind to hundreds of colony planets. For Bennett, jaded tug pilot, a life beyond Earth is just a dream – until the Mackendrick Foundation hires him to pilot a lightship to the Rim world of Penumbra – and a fateful meeting with an alien race. On the teeming streets of Calcutta, police Lieutenant Rana Rao has no time to consider the stars. She’s just been promoted from working with the street-children to the Homicide Division – and into the pat of a serial killer. Cover art by Chris Moore.