When Confederate operative Kaid Sidorov is sent to extract a scientist from a newly annexed world, he expects another deniable retrieval under pressure. Instead, Tavanda Ruun leads his crew to evidence of first contact: a surviving alien intelligence hidden inside the remains of a civilization that chose sleep over extinction.What Kaid brings aboard the Rebel Ascendant is not cargo. She is a passenger, and the choice was hers — to meet humanity as people before she met its...

When Kaid Sidorov is sent to extract a scientist from a newly annexed world, he expects another covert retrieval under pressure. Instead, Tavanda Ruun leads his crew to evidence of first contact: a surviving alien intelligence hidden inside the remains of a civilization humanity was never meant to find.What Kaid brings back aboard the Rebel Ascendant is not a weapon, not a relic, and not something the war can absorb without changing shape. As Federation pressure closes in,...