Decades after the Secession, humanity is still split. The isolationist Pan Humana and the expansionist Commonwealth Republic live on either side of their mutual boundary, the Secant. Crossing the Secant is illegal, no matter which side you start from.

Trade Tamyn Glass is on a well-paying and mostly legal run when she is contacted by Benajim Cyanus--a man she doesn't know, piloting a ship that isn't his, pursued by people who intend him harm. He carries a plea from an old friend that Tamyn can't ignore. Sean Merrick, richest of the early founders of the Commonwealth, is dying, and his last wish is to be buried on Earth. That means crossing the Secant and breaking the law.

But that's only the start of Tamyn's problems. Merrick is trying to live beyond his natural lifespan: he has loaded his persona into his ship, the Solo, and turned it over to Benajim--a man who has no memory of his past and owes his present to Sean Merrick. One man has placed them all in a moral, ethical, and legal dilemma that threatens everything they know, and there's no time to consider. They have to decide, and decide now. Their choice will have profound consequences. For everyone.