Humanity's Wargames are about to begin. The arenas are set. The soldiers are ready. Billions of battles will soon take place. Spears, tanks and starships will clash across the vast Shellworld's surface and inside its core. Plucked from Earth, Jessica Stanner and her two companions are plunged into the arenas of the Shellworld. They must lead armies and fight, both for their lives, and for Earth. The alien soldiers they command in the arenas are real. Their deaths... are real. If Jessica has any hope of getting out alive and going home, her team will need to use their knowledge of ancient, modern and future warfare to earn the respect of humanity's mysterious Trustee. Of course, the more she fights, the deadlier the games become; both inside, and outside, the Wargames of the Shellworld.