The E.I.E.V. Arydani, the largest and most advanced starship ever constructed by human hands, launched from the planet Themis to embark on a great mission of interstellar exploration called The Grand Tour. The Arydani was lost with all hands during her maiden voyage...vanished without a trace. That was over three hundred years ago. Since that time, the Arydani has appeared and reappeared randomly throughout the Alliance territories like a ghost ship...an interstellar Flying Dutchman. Now, on a routine run, the crew of the deep space cargo/salvage starship Brysen makes a discovery that could very well solve the mystery of the Arydani once and for all...or the three-century-old derelict of the spacelanes and the dreadful secrets it contains will claim yet another collection of victims.