Unwillingly drawn out of her annual drunken stupor, Captain Nancy Martin, Retired, finds herself involuntarily reactivated. Her assignment—help Special Agent Erica Hampton solve the disappearance of an entire school's student body. Hampton's superiors suspect a slaver ring has kidnapped the children, to sell them on a rim world beyond the Terran Federation's borders.

When Nancy and Erica discover the truth behind the abductions, they realize their deadline is quite literal, and much closer than they thought. When the gloves come off, the missing children couldn't have anyone better fighting for their lives.

It will take every bit of skill Nancy and Erica have to track down the villains behind the disappearances. Defeating them will be a different matter entirely.