Imperial Intelligence couldn&rsquo;t find them, the Imperial Fleet couldn&rsquo;t catch them, and local defenses couldn&rsquo;t stop them. It seemed the planet-wrecking pirates were invincible. But they made a big mistake when they raided ex-commando leader Alicia DeVries&rsquo; quiet home work, tortured and murdered her family, and then left <I>her</i> for dead. Alicia decided to turn &ldquo;pirate&rdquo; herself, and stole a cutting-edge AI ship from the Empire to start her vendetta. Her fellow veterans think she&rsquo;s gone crazy, the Imperial Fleet has shoot-on-sight orders. And of course the pirates want her dead, too. But Alicia DeVries has two allies nobody knows about, allies as implacable as she is: a self-aware computer, and a creature from the mists of Old Earth&rsquo;s most ancient legends. And this trio of furies won&rsquo;t rest until vengeance is served.