Hollow Stars

The hollow stars are dying, and Verax-7 is the last station anyone can reach before the void swallows the outer ring whole. Tess Iyer knew what she was signing up for when she docked The Fool's Errand at Dock 9, another contract, another rust-stained port, another crew of debtors and outcasts: Vela Dracon, heir to a family name already fading like the stars they named; Marlon Poyser, a navigator who still believes the old trade lanes exist; Sevryn Kade, who fixes what shouldn't be fixable; and a patchwork of runners, soldiers, and ghosts who call themselves Echo, Maro, Jax Rend, Iros Vale, Maren Dracon, Aldric Voss, and Daxon Mire. But this contract is different. Aldric Voss doesn't offer passage. He offers a choice: crew the last supply run through the dying sector, or watch the Dracon family's claim on the orbital ports dissolve into the dark. The cargo manifest is blank. The destination is marked only as Hollow. And the fuel reserves will not support a second trip home. As the flickering lights of Verax-7 dim and the gantries groan under the weight of everyone who still believes there's somewhere left to be, Tess must decide what "the last contract" actually costs. Because out here, between the hollow stars, the only thing worse than a dead ship is a living one with no course. And the void doesn't negotiate.