Mark Bartlett messed up. He let himself be pressured to carry unknown cargo on his family's freighter, putting the red fox spacers in danger. Now, he's in the custody of the UC Fleet on the frigate Sparrow, facing the consequences.

Ensign Patrick Bass has two secrets. First, he's a mole for Human's First!, a terrorist organization that wants humans to be in charge and dominant in the Solar System. Second, he's in love with a male wolf, two things that his Fundamentalist upbringing says are irredeemable sins.

Their fates are about to collide.