For Captain Honor Harrington, it's sometimes hard to know who the enemy
really is. Despite political foes, professional jealousies, and the
scandal that drove her into exile, she's been offered a chance to
reclaim her career as an officer of the Royal Manticoran Navy. But
there's a catch. She must assume command of a "squadron" of jury-rigged
armed merchantmen with crew drawn from the dregs of her service and
somehow stop the pirates who have taken advantage of the Havenite War to
plunder the Star Kingdom's commerce. That would be hard enough, but some
of the "pirates" aren't exactly what they seem . . . and neither are
some of her "friends." For Honor has been carefully chosen for her
mission - by two implacable and powerful enemies. The way they see it,
either she stops the raiders or the raiders kill her . . . and either
way, they win.