In Enemy Hands is a military science fiction novel, the seventh in the Honor Harrington series by David Weber. Military science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction where interstellar or interplanetary conflict and its armed solution (war) make up the backdrop of the story. ... Honor Harrington is a fictional character, the eponymous heroine of a series of science fiction books set in the Honorverse, written by David Weber and published by Baen Books. ... David Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. ...

As the story begins, Honor has just been promoted to Commodore, which means she will never command a starship again. Honor and Admiral Hamish Alexander realize they have feelings for each other they can never express: Hamish is her superior officer, and married. In an attempt to escape her own feelings, Honor goes with Alistair McKeon on a convoy escort mission, and falls into a trap set by Citizen Admiral Lester Tourville. They hold off the Havenites long enough for the transports to escape. Then, for the first time in her life, Honor surrenders. The military rank of Commodore is used in some navies for officers whose position exceeds that of a Captain, but is less than that of a flag officer. ... Admiral Hamish Alexander, Thirteenth Earl of White Haven, is a fictional character in the Honorverse. ... Alistair McKeon is a fictional character in the Honorverse. ... Admiral Lester Tourville is a fictional character in the Honorverse. ... The Peoples Republic of Haven is a fictional star nation in the Honorverse. ...

At first, Honor and her officers are treated respectfully by Tourville and Admiral Thomas Theisman, who remember Honor's treatment of Havenite prisoners, and the Havenite officers plan to intern Harrington and her officers in a Navy-run POW camp instead of turning her to State Security. Unfortunately, everything crashes down when Cordelia Ransom, the People's Republic's Secretary for Public Information, intervenes and demands that the Manticorans be surrendered to her. Unable to face Ransom and her State Security goons, Admiral Theisman transfers Honor to Ransom's men and helplessly watches as StateSec troopers beat her. Thomas Theisman is a fictional character in the Honorverse. ... Cordelia Ransom is a fictional character in David Weber´s Honorverse series of novels. ... The Peoples Republic of Haven is a fictional star nation in the Honorverse. ...

Honor, Alistair, Horace Harkness, and the rest of the crew are a held prisoner on the Havenite battlecruiser PNS Tepes. Tepes, which belongs to State Security and not to the Havenite Navy, is Ransom's personal flagship and is destined for the Havenite prison planet of Hades. Ransom intends to execute Honor for attacking and blowing up a Havenite Q-ship (the events of On Basilisk Station). The rest of the prisoners are sentenced to lifetime imprisonment on Hades. The journey towards Hades is marked by Honor's torture at the hands of StateSec and the general mistreatment of the other Manticoran prisoners. Horace Harkness is a fictional character in the Honorverse. ... The Peoples Republic of Haven is a fictional star nation in the Honorverse. ... The Peoples Navy (PN) and its successor service the Republic of Haven Navy (RHN—also known as the Republican Navy) is a fictional space navy in David Webers Honor Harrington series of novels. ... Hades is a fictional place in the Honorverse. ... On Basilisk Station is the first Honor Harrington novel by David Weber. ...

Back home, Allison Chou Harrington is attempting to cure genetic diseases on Grayson, and the treecats attempt to set up their first off-planet colony. The Manticoran Admiralty is preparing their new weapons in the hope of ending the war. Allison Chou Harrington is a fictional character, the mother of the title character in the Honor Harrington series. ... Treecats are a fictional species of intelligent lifeforms who take a prominent role in a series of novels and stories about the Honorverse. David Weber was the original author, but others have begun to contribute related stories. ... The Star Kingdom of Manticore, also known as Manticore and abbreviated as SKM, is a fictional human star-nation in the Honorverse, the setting for a series of books written by David Weber and published by Baen Books. ...

Aided by the "betrayal" of Harkness, Honor and her crew escape fighting their way through Tepes and use a couple of pinnaces to escape the ship, which has been rigged to explode by Harkness. But despite their escape, they find themselves in a potentially worse situation. They are stranded on Cerberus III.