Crossing the Rubicon

The price of peace may be measured in blood

As leader of the Earth’s Central Planetary Defence Force, Jane Burke has spent years hoping for peace and preparing for war. Far away on the Aèllr homeworld, Speaker Mupjre is the first leader of the Confederacy to face a hostile species. With the Battle of Earth leaving both Human and Aèllr forces devastated, now is the time to take stock, to rethink and to challenge prejudices. But is peaceful co-existence possible? Or – in the face of fear, distrust and ignorance – have the two sides already crossed the Rubicon of war?