The discovery of portals, so-called gates, led to mass colonization of new worlds. Thousands of people rushed in search of a better life. However, independent settlers had to face a powerful corporation that had a license to explore uncharted territories. On the distant planet Ilos, a real war broke out—one that threatened to spread all the way to Earth. James Holden and his ship’s crew “Rocinante” are tasked with going to Ilos and trying to stop the bloodshed. But the more Holden thinks about what’s happening, the more it seems to him that this mission is doomed to fail. Meanwhile, the voice of a dead man tells him that the great civilization that once lived on this planet has vanished—and that it was ruthlessly destroyed…