Force Majeure

In 2378, Sable Tierce and the crew of the Hard Bargain are drawn into a conflict with the Ministry, a secret network of resurrected influential minds led in part by Rafi Daval and the Green Minister. Their investigation leads back to the Far Traveler mission on Irrakai 105 years earlier, where endemic kethra, infected hosts, and a catastrophic escape event devastated the Osharré. As Cassandra investigates Soraya's identity and the Hard Bargain follows the trail to Irrakai, the crew confronts buried history, machine consciousness, and the possibility that the plague is tied to a far greater cosmic threat. Continuity Note: Force Majeure depends heavily on the classified history of the Far Traveler mission, especially Maren Renn’s survival, the Osharré cybernetic plague, kethra, the Selkaré, and the hidden origin of Soraya Linnev.