Argent Aquilus, the best mercenary pilot in the system, is always searching for the next score. Argent's ship, the Menagerie, houses a wild crew of an assassin, a zealot, a telepath, a shapeshifter, and a sentient droid. They scrape out a living while avoiding the watchful eye of the Triastram Planetary Council, led by Argent's brother Preus, and other authorities in their region of space. Anxious for the next payday, Argent takes a job from an unknown client for a secret payload. When the crew discovers their prize is an illegal world-killing fusion-charge and their customer a known terrorist, they deliver the cargo to save their lives and avoid prison, like any good mercs. Argent and his crew undergo self-examination and coercion after some powerful "friends" capture them. They are offered a chance to defuse the terrorist's plans and avoid the death of another planet, or face life in the mines of Monger. Success requires a reconciliation of family tensions while rebuilding trust with those on the other side of the law.