The Mirror Layer

The Rusting Haven is the last station before the long dark—a corroded throat everything from the deep frontier must pass through before it can pretend to be civilization: cargo, claims, exhausted explorers, survey data, exotic diseases, crushing debts, and lies stamped with official government seals.

Helen Stance wakes naked, furious, and fresh out of cryosleep, with the Omicron data key sealed beneath the skin behind her left ear. It is valuable enough to make major corporations liquidate their own ethics committees—and dangerous enough to require immediate containment.

She intends to sell Omicron, get paid, and buy her freedom.

She thinks she is making a simple sale. She has no idea she is part of a greater plan.

Welcome to the Rusting Haven. The way out is a matter of negotiation.