Abandoned as a child to what should have been a short, miserable life on the streets of Dantares, Calee was rescued when it was discovered that she was one of the precious, gifted few -- a Dreamer, a psychic capable of guiding star ships through the amorphous darkness of within by following the songs of the stars that only Dreamers can hear. Now Calee lives a safe, cosseted existence within the walls of Dreamworld, alone in a room of her own choosing, drifting on the distant star songs that are more real to her than any of the human pilots she guides. The female pilots she guides, because Calee, her childhood still too raw a memory, wants nothing to do with men, ever. But even Dreamworld's high walls cannot protect her when she is assigned to guide a pilot--a male pilot--on a mission so urgent that mankind's very survival hangs in the balance.

Scout ship pilot Bram Mason has found solace in the dangerous, lonely work of exploring newly discovered planets. But there's a difference between dangerous missions and suicidal ones, and his latest assignment definitely qualifies as suicidal--an ancient probe has reported the discovery of a planet at the very edge of the galaxy, a planet rich in a rare mineral used by humanity's mortal enemies, the vicious, alien Gromin, to create an airborne poison capable of wiping out life on every human-inhabited planet known. The risk that the Gromin have intercepted the probe's message is too great to ignore, and Bram's is the only ship anywhere close. Even though scout ships are built for speed, not firepower, Bram is assigned the task of locating the planet and defending it against any Gromin incursion, no matter what the cost. Bram is prepared to risk his life if he has to, but he isn't prepared for the assault on his heart by a woman half a galaxy away.