While searching Athoek Station's slums, Fleet Captain Breq finds someone who appears to be an ancillary from a ship that has been hiding beyond the Radch's reach for three thousand years. Meanwhile, Translator Zeiat, a messenger from the alien and mysterious Presger empire arrives, as does Breq's enemy, the reactionary faction of the divided Anaander Mianaai – ruler of an empire at war with herself.
