She was a landing ship, a powerful weapon of conquest in the service of the Radch Empire. Now Brack, imprisoned in a simple human body, becomes the captain of the ship entrusted to her and goes to the remote Athoek base on a secret mission. Ruler Anaander Miannai instructs her to find out what is really happening there and what role the mysterious aliens Presger play in all this. However, for Brack it is also a deeply personal matter: on top of all other challenges, she will have to meet the younger sister of the man she once loved and whom she had to shoot on the orders of Anaander Miannai.