A murdered lover. A false conviction. A galaxy on the brink of annihilation. Tim Scott believed his life had ended the night he was framed for murdering the woman he loved. Condemned to rot in a prison orbiting a dead world, he has nothing left-until an alien device called Enigma offers him the one thing he craves: the truth. But unlocking his memories awakens something far worse. The Aphra-an ancient, machine-born species bent on consuming all biological life-are rising again. And Enigma herself is no machine at all, but the last living fragment of the Aphra's creators...and their only possible weapon against them. Now hunted across the stars, Tim and a mismatched crew must chase scattered clues to the fabled Nightfallen-the legendary beings who once shaped the galaxy. If they fail, the Aphra will enslave every mind in existence. And if they succeed? The truth they uncover may be worse than extinction.