When Kit thinks things can't get any worse, she discovers a man who wants her DNA even more than the Coalition.
Trapped on a ship with a mad scientist, Kit discovers that there is something more sinister at work in her biology. The grand altruistic prophecy, placed on her shoulders as a child, is nothing more than a murderous plot, with her as the linchpin.
When her struggles to survive lead her right into the hands of her enemy, Kit discovers the Coalition is using Aresties and her surrogate baby to harvest the plague that she failed to deliver years ago. With the empire now at stake, Kit's child must be sacrificed to prevent genocide.