Samuel Shrike is many different things to many different people throughout the Milky Way Galaxy - a mercenary, a survivalist, a relic, a symbol. But Shrike doesn't care what others think. In fact, he cares about very little except where to find the next big fight or a good pole dance. That all changes when the enigmatic loner runs across an individual so unique, so perfect that even his cynical instincts can't force him away. Shrike's life of simple rules is about to get jettisoned out an airlock.