After the defeat of the evil Dominion forces at Farholme, Commander Merral D'Avanos prepares a task force to rescue 30 hostages captured by the fleeing Margrave Lezaroth. Merral's only hope is that he can get to the hostages before they're taken to Lord-Emperor Nezhuala at the Blade of Night - the heart of the evil Dominion worlds. But in order to get there, Merral and his crew will have to survive a perilous trip through Below-Space. Meanwhile, news of the Dominion's defeat at Farholme reaches Earth but is tempered by the sobering truth of the enemy's growth and strength. It is now clear that an attack on the Assembly is imminent, but how far should the Assembly go to stop it? And does the real danger lie in the Dominion, or within the Assembly itself?