After the events of Altered Carbon, Takeshi Kovacs, a former envoy extraordinary and former private detective, finds himself far from Earth, on the planet Sanction IV, where he participates in an operation to suppress a revolutionary uprising that soon turns into a full-scale massacre. But it is precisely in this war-torn world that a treasure lurks that can turn human history around: a portal to a functioning ship of an alien civilization. Almost all the archaeologists who discovered it died; someone clearly wants to hide the find from people and will make any sacrifice for this. Together with a detachment of mercenaries, Kovacs goes in search of an artifact, not yet knowing that the highest price will have to be paid for the secrets of the disappeared race of aliens, and when faced with technologies whose capabilities are incredible and whose secrets are monstrous, the skills of even the most experienced soldiers will not help.