Turin insists Dutch and D’avin take a few of the RAC’s best brains for a test drive mission, in search for a temporary replacement for Johnny. The rookies soon find themselves in over their heads, trapped in an abandoned black site bent on killing them all. Across the J, Johnny finds himself in hot water of his own as his search for Clara leads him to a mysterious skin rejuvenation center, hiding an even bigger mystery under its surface.
Trapped in the mysterious and mind-bending greenspace and on the run from the deadly Lady, Aneela, and her father Khlyen struggle to stay one step ahead of the Lady, while keeping a wounded Dutch alive with a story that he promises will save her life: the tale of Dutch and Johnny’s first mission in the Quad. He tells the story of the time when, down to their last few Joy, Dutch and John accepted a simple cargo transportation gig to the armpit of the galaxy and how this led to them facing off with a deadly assassin.
Delle Seyah’s impossibly complicated delivery, John on the brink of madness, Dutch, staggered after being trapped in another dimension. Things are not exactly quiet on the good ship Lucy. Nor are they back in the Quad where our Killjoys are learning what comes of turning your back on sleeping Hullen.