Mars: a beacon of safety and refuge, unless you’re transporting the disputed embryos of genetically modified animals intended for auction to the Martian elite. Jack Macleef and his small crew of interstellar merchant marines—including “Bit,” an unexpected indentured servant—think they're on a simple cargo drop when things suddenly go awry. Dodging paint-hurling protestors and mercenaries bent on terrorizing the crew’s families, Jack and Bit have their hands full as they try to keep the crew from falling apart while still delivering the cargo on time.

Just find her. In a city of 3.5 billion. How hard can it be? The answer? Hard. Very hard. In an effort to find her sister’s lost child, Bit flees from the Lenore and returns to her home city, Johannesburg. The search appears over before it even begins when she infuriates a local gang leader. Now, Bit must stay one step ahead of her enemies, while tracking her only remaining family member. Jack and the crew trace Bit back to Earth. Rather than take on another job, the crew seeks her in the deteriorating Johannesburg slums. Attracting their own enemies, both within their crew and from the outside world, the game of cat and mouse has never created more mayhem.

After the delivery from hell, the crew of the Lenore is ready for a well-deserved rest. But just as they reach their ship, they receive an offer they can’t refuse. Desperately needing money to repair the limping Lenore, Jack Macleef takes the job, even though it toes the line of legality. To his astonishment, the crew agrees to the illegal job.Just when Bit thinks she has her male crewmates under control, a fresh wave of romantic inclinations wash through them, and Bit is forced to deal with it the only way she knows how—with a swift fist to the eye. With half the crew tripping over itself to get to Bit, Jack flies the Lenore to Nye space station with the intention of secretly installing a nuclear reactor, freeing the station from the planetary government’s control. If he can succeed, he will have the money to repair the Lenore. If he fails, more than one life will be ruined.