In the not terribly distant future, humankind was on the verge of destroying Earth due to overcrowding, depleted resources, overwhelming wars, and the planet-altering global catastrophe of climate change. Companies found themselves hoarding technology and innovations, unwilling to collaborate even to save humanity from an untimely demise. In a desperate move, the failing governments of the world decided to send the first true AI to lead Pallas, a colony ship full of Earth's best and brightest, to find a new home amongst the stars. Various other nations and creeds began sending dozens of other ships in the wake of Pallas, only to find that Pallas had vanished along with their hope of finding a perfect home. Now fully mistrusting the concept of true AI, those dozens of ships managed to settle in a distant region of space, where the old, insulated views and prejudices started to take hold. Three monolithic corporations rose to power controlling ideas, trade, and the future of humanity. Now, centuries later, finding Pallas is a fool's dream.The story begins with four such fools. The diverse crew of the infamous Ruby Shift includes Skadi Ulfsdöttir, a quick-thinking and short-tempered captain, Mattias Warner, her eternally patient co-pilot, Eliot Charter, a rebellious scholar, and Vasyli Nikonov, a wanted officer on the run, all of them hellbent on discovering the location of lost Pallas. As the four work together to unravel the greatest mystery of their time, they quickly realize they're out of their depth.