On the cargo carrier Maria's Cog, something goes drastically wrong. Barely escaping the vessel before it is destroyed, a survivor fights to live on, even as her situation gets worse and worse. With Captain Brooks and the Craton racing to save all they can, they must also try and figure out just what destroyed the Maria's Cog - and if it poses a threat to them. There is no magic that can reach out and pluck the living across the vast distances of space, no miracle shield that can protect against debris flying at thousands of miles per hour.  The vacuum is merciless, and when reality-bending technology is taken out of the equation there is only cold hard physics to determine if one lives or dies.