Twenty-five years ago, Vale was quietly, yet forcibly discharged from the military, stripping from her the only life she ever knew.

Now, at forty-eight years old and starting to feel her age, she finds herself wondering if she'll ever be able to atone for the sins of her past.

Luckily for her, an opportunity has come up. A chance to get away from her record, a chance to start fresh. All she has to do is one little job: a security escort for a family of colonizers seeking to join a religious commune on a remote planet on the other side of The Prism.

Since her military days, Vale has been convinced that there's no horror that war hasn't shown her. But she's about to discover how very wrong she is.

[participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge]