The humans on the sentinel battle station have waited more than a decade in silence for their enemy's return, a merciless, bird-like alien species known as Apex, who are bent on exterminating all other sentient life in the quadrant. But when a strange warship appears, the crew is thrown into chaos as one faction is desperate to communicate with the newcomers, and the other will kill to keep their mission a secret. For the crew of HMS Blackbeard, a...