Hour of Judgment

As Chief Medical Officer aboard the Jurisdiction Fleet Ship Ragnarok, Andrej Koscuisko's duty is to care for his shipmates; as Inquisitor, he must extract confessions and administer punishment. But while the doctor takes pride in his healing skills, the torturer knows only self-loathing. As the planet Burkhayden prepares for the arrival of its new governor, a brutal attack on a Nurail slave woman by a ship's officer sets in motion a chain of events that culminates in murder. Called upon to minister to the injured woman, Andrei is soon pressed into duty as Inquisitor after a prime suspect is taken into custody for the murder. In this minefield of intrigue and deception, where a single misstep means death, Andrej's precarious equilibrium will be strained to the breaking point - and beyond.