[1] In the book, Honor returns to active duty from her political exile on Grayson to command a Q-ship and fight space pirates.

After more than three years in exile on Grayson, several of Honor's old political enemies decide to try to kill two birds with one stone.

He believes that Honor will either deal with the piracy problems that are causing him losses in the Silesian Confederacy or die trying.

While Honor leads her crew in battles against various pirates, the Havenites are also conducting covert commerce raiding in Silesia, in an attempt to destabilize Manticoran trade in the region and present themselves in a more favorable light to the Andermani.

Their motivations and characters are more fully explored and shown to be in many ways the moral equal of the Manticorans, including Caslet's determination to pursue raiders whose actions have gone beyond the pale, far outside acceptable practice under the laws of war.

It also introduced Admiral Javier Giscard, commander of the Havenite raiders, and his political watchdog (and lover) Eloise Pritchart.