A Prayer for the Fallen

After John and Nikaela are rescued from the rogue warship Sycorax, Katrine Primatov has only a lone hunter-killer to back her in the remote Sarkovie system, and she is faced with a Kelk force of overwhelming firepower superiority. The Kelk decide to take John and Nikaela back to Viktorkinde, whether Katrine likes it or not, and everyone is pretending they're not prisoners. With no choice in the matter, she accompanies them, and the three are reluctant "guests" aboard the Kelk heavy cruiser Konigsborge.

But the Kelk are quietly at war among themselves, fighting their own battle against superstition and irrationality. John and Katrine begin to learn the roots of the Kelk hatred of the Blacksword, and Nikaela does what she can to help them stay alive.