In this far future space opera set in the Spider War universe of The Burning Dark, a government agent uncovers a conspiracy that stretches from the slums of Salt City to the floating gas mines of Jupiter. There, deep in the roiling clouds of the planet, the Jovian Mining Corporation is hiding a secret that will tear the Fleet apart. But there is something else hiding in Jovian system. Something insidious, intelligent and hungry. The Spiders are near.