Anne Reynolt surfaces from darkness into free fall, disoriented and terrified. Memories of her capture by Balacreans and the slaughter of her people surge back. She sees unfamiliar gear and two men: Pham and the jittery tech Trud Silipan. Anne bites Pham’s hand before he orders Trud out. As her memory returns, she recognizes that Focus turned her into the enemy’s tool, and she collapses in grief. Pham removes her restraints and quietly tells her that Tomas Nau is dead and that she is free.

When Anne steadies, Pham places flowers in her lap and asks for her help: more than two thousand people remain Focused, and only she might safely deFocus them. Anne, expert in Focus, warns of failures and the horror of partial returns. She probes Pham’s motives, accusing him of having lusted after Focus’s power. Pham admits he once saw Focus as a shortcut to his lifelong goals but renounced it when he understood the cost.

Pham sketches the chaotic present: authority is unsettled, Spiders have a major say, and a renaissance could come as ships are repaired and new physics applied. Anne presses on control—who will own those ships and that future? Pham concedes he will command several but insists he wants her free and empowered.

Anne then sets a condition: lend ships and join her to free all the Focused across Balacrea, Frenk, and Gaspr—striking at the empire itself. Pham is stunned, then delighted, asking for time to prepare and alliances—about a dozen of Anne’s years. Anne cannot tell whether he lies, but the pledge is the one promise that makes her want to live. She agrees to deFocus the survivors and, for the first time in years, feels joy.