Idris, an enhanced human, and his crew, 50 years after the destruction of the earth by alien aggressors, the Architects, discover something strange in space that many people would kill to obtain--and could herald the return of the enemy.

Facing impending extinction, an Intermediary decides to help the Human Colonies stop the Architects who are back consuming entire planets after eighty years of a fragile peace, in the second novel of the series, following Shards of Earth.

In the brutal Ice Age caused by the ancient Jemen war, many archaic human species, including Denisovans and Homo erectus, hover on the verge of extinction. There seems no way out, until the greatest Neanderthal holy man, Trogon, has a vision. Legends say the truce that ended the old war left one hostage in the hands of the victorious rebels: the god-like Jemen leader, known as the Old Woman of the Mountain. According to Trogon's vision, only one...

"Most days, Sarya doesn't feel like the most terrifying creature in the galaxy. Most days, she's got other things on her mind. Like hiding her identity among the hundreds of alien species roaming the corridors of Watertower Station. Or making sure her adoptive mother doesn't casually eviscerate one of their neighbors. Again. And most days, she can almost accept that she'll never know the truth--that she'll never know why humanity was deemed too dangerous...