Hail-and-Farewell Vinright is a pirate, ferrying drugs and weapons across the galaxy. When he discovers that the headaches he's been plagued with are not a sign that he has a brain tumor, and are instead the rare God-given gift of the power, one in a million psychic abilities, Hail sees the opportunity to help his family profit. Only people with the power can build the stardrives at the core of every ship, and the market for them is controlled by the Imperial government. Pirates would pay huge sums for one, so Hail's family enters the market.

Aymon Sandreas is the least likely candidate to take the Imperial throne upon the retirement of his master, First Herrault. When Aymon steps too far out of line, his master sends him away to find the pirates who are flooding the galaxy with stardrives, destabilizing the Imperial government and the spacefaring Guild. Expecting an easy but boring task, Aymon's interest is piqued when the mysterious stardrive maker proves a clever and capable adversary.

When Hail and Aymon finally come face to face, Aymon offers Hail an opportunity: work for me, in exchange for your life. But Hail wants nothing more than revenge, and he's willing to play the long game to get it...