This freshman effort by Nathan Lowell was originally published as a serialized audiobook. The professional recording loses some of the fresh faced naivite of the original, replacing it with a noir overlay that suits the dark circumstances our unlikely hero is thrust into. Raised on a company world by his professor-mother, protagonist Ishmael Horation Wang has long understood that he will go to college and someday make his way in the world. That day comes far too soon when his mother is killed in a flitter crash and he is suddenly left without support, a job, or resources. Faced with deportation, Ish must find a way off planet in a hurry and takes a change on the equivalent of the merchant marine. We follow Ish’s progress as he enters the foreign world of a spacer cruising between the stars to keep the goods of the Western Annex flowing. Follow along as this unlikely hero learns the ropes aboard a company ship and comes to terms with what life has thrust his way.