New York Times bestselling author Jack Campbell is back with an action-packed new military science fiction adventure!

Twenty-four hours of oxygen. Two apex predators. One chance to survive.

Osiris “Oz” Aquino is an underprepared Navy officer put in command of seven castoff Marines on a research starship dispatched to an alien planet.

His sergeant is hostile, his Marines have records full of infractions–not to mention that they’re plagued by old weapons and missing supplies due to budget cuts–and the crew and scientists would rather have nothing to do with him.

As the ship approaches the planet it’s investigating, they find plenty of signs of intelligent life in the form of ruined cities and skeletal remains. The only things living in the ruins are adorable aliens, which the researchers dub squonks.

It all seems run-of-the-mill, until it isn't...

Suddenly, the squonks get loose in engineering and go ballistic, the crew sent to investigate aren’t coming back, and Oz and his team have a fight on their hands.

He must restore safe access to engineering before the crew on the ship runs out of air, all while figuring out what turned the squonks from cuddly to killer. And if he doesn't act fast, the squad who’ve evacuated to the planet’s surface may not survive.

Getting home alive will take everything they have...

From Jack Campbell, NYT Bestselling author of Lost Fleet, comes this action-packed, science fiction thrill ride filled with military action, detailed alien worlds, and characters you can't help but root for.