Anaander Mianaai, the Lord of the Radch – or the part of her personality that opposes the further militant expansion of the empire – adopts Breq into her house, appoints her Fleet Captain, puts her in command of the warship Mercy of Kalr, and charges her to protect the remote Athoek system.

She meets Dlique, translator for the alien Presger, who is killed in a scuffle with ancillaries of Sword of Atagaris – the other warship on station, commanded by Captain Hetnys, Breq's nominal subordinate.

To hopefully placate the powerful aliens, Breq and Hetnys enter formal mourning on the estate of Fosyf, a prominent tea planter who holds her workers, transportees from other Radch-conquered worlds, in conditions akin to serfdom.

After Breq survives an attempt on her life by Raughd, Fosyf's abusive heir, she suspects that somebody abducts suspended transportees, possibly an ancient warship seeking to replenish its ancillary crew.

[1] In io9, Annalee Newitz appreciated the novel as "a gripping read, with top-notch worldbuilding and a set of rich subtexts about human rights, colonialism – and (yes) hive mind sex", but noted the lack of a strong narrative thread, as well as Breq's "holier-than-thou facade" reducing the impression of ambivalence that characterizes a realistic character.