The Dead Zone has no stars, no mercy, and no rules. When the Houston goes dark, the only way out is through shifting alliances and desperate deals.

Stranded with a failing jump drive, Dani Devereaux is running out of options. Her crew is battered, her ship is limping, and the only people offering help are the last people she'd choose to trust. Pirates. And leading the charge is Jag's brother, whose help always has a price.

A sacrifice buys them a fighting chance. Now Dani has to earn it, making deals she isn't comfortable with, fighting her way off a pirate space station falling apart around them, and flying into a wormhole on the verge of collapse.

Where it leads changes everything.

On the other side waits a rebel planet, an enemy from her past, and answers to questions Dani has been carrying for years. The wormhole didn't just take them somewhere new. It took them back to the one place Dani had vowed never to see again.

The Dead Zone is the fourth episode in the Ardent Redux Saga, a fast-paced space opera series with found family at its core, a heroine led by honor and compassion, and a galaxy-wide conspiracy that goes deeper with every answer.