I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

– ‘Sonnet XVII,’ Pablo Neruda

Once, he was Davir Hargan, a bright and friendly young man, the lover and partner of Saeihr Kharth, building a future and a career of scientific curiosity and close companionship. Then he became Davir Airex, the fifth host of his symbiont, and left her and his previous life without warning or explanation.

Once, he was Commander Airex, Chief Science Officer of the USS Endeavour, close friend of Karana Valance, a stalwart ally and dedicated explorer. Then he became a staff member for Fourth Fleet Intelligence, leaving his ship and friends just as suddenly and coldly as he had before.

Now Airex lies comatose on Starbase Bravo, incapacitated by a vicious telepathic attack by the renegade Karlan T’Sann. Only the intervention of those who know him best, aided by a Trill Guardian, can reconnect his mind to the symbiont and save his life. But beside the risks to everyone’s minds, further dangers abound: the danger the truth holds, going to a place where questions might finally be answered.

What has turned Davir away from those he loves, even his own family, over and over, since he became Joined? What is Airex’s connection to the Myriad, the mysterious figure in the criminal underworld responsible for destroying so many lives, and ordering the death of Saeihr Kharth’s father? And will Davir Airex continue to guard such secrets as others enter his mind and memories, even if shrouding them may cost him his own life – or the minds of those he once professed to care for?