As the Mars-Belter War continues into its second year, all Subcommander Walker Tsume wants is another ship to command. He's been promised a new warship, though it is under construction at Mercury, months from completion, and Walker is on Mars teaching Academy cadets.
But an assignment as a military attaché to a diplomatic conference on Earth's moon promises to bring him on his way sunward. All he has to do is deal with a sociopathic ambassador and assorted hijackers, pirates, assassins, spies, diplomats, lawyers and the girlfriend he hasn't seen since the war began.
Meanwhile, somebody keeps trying to blow him up, and the war goes on, threatening to escalate as new weapons and tactics evolve.
And as Walker navigates his way closer to the sun, overcoming challenges tactical and diplomatic, he begins to unravel the decades-old mystery of the murder of his family and the threat that still remains.
