When a powerful machine-lect reconnects with real space to gaze across the galaxy, it receives an unexpected message and decides to take action. The Maspero, an Ascended Biological civilisation extinct for sixty million years, may hold vital clues about the fabled Deliverer. The craft-lect is nearby, but there’s a problem. An internal attack has removed its control and left it isolated from the crew. This time, it’s not just angry, it’s vengeful – and just where do One-oh’s loyalties lie? While the ship’s occupants struggle in the aftermath of the attack, Gil is confronted by startling visions of the past, and the return of her sphere. Tor and DeVoid try to make sense of their uninvited guest as well as his bizarre request, before embarking on a journey neither would have thought possible. Apalu faces a difficult choice on its quest to the Lenbit Orbital in search of answers, while a terrible weapon lies in wait – little more than a distant memory from the dawn of the Wanderer civilisation.