When a civil war tears his people apart, a reluctant captain must choose between loyalty to his fleet and the dangerous ideals of the mentor he’ s been ordered to hunt down. Centuries after a devastating civil war, a remnant of humanity wanders the stars aboard the dreaded Doomships, juggernaut ark-ships where religion is outlawed and reproduction is tightly controlled. When a power struggle shatters the fragile peace among this armada, the vital food-ship Famine is destroyed and her surviving retainer ships scatter, leaving what is left of humanity on the brink of starvation. Young captain Tyler Blythe is placed in command of the fastest remaining ship and tasked with retrieving the Famine's scattered allies before the armada collapses. But under the watchful eye of political overseers and hostile marines, Tyler discovers a secret: the fugitives have joined a rebel leader marooned decades ago on an alien world – his former mentor, Nassir Redhook. Now Tyler must choose between Nassir's religious zealotry and the fanaticism of the Doomship armada.