From his earliest memories in the desperate slums of Oldcity, Cat has hated the pretensions of the rich, the machinations of the powerful interstellar combines; for at every turn Cat has been used. He's been a thief, a hustler, a spy, a slave. Used as a pawn. As bait.

But at this moment, Cat is a scholar, a university team xenologist doing field research on the planet Refuge, home of the enigmatic cloud-whales. Vast aerial creatures created by an unknown species, the telepathic whales are far more than uniquely beautiful. Their thoughts and dreams manifest, falling from the sky to form vast reefs of solid data comprised of pure, retrievable thought... data mined by the planet's all-powerful corporate owner, Tau Biotech.

Refuge is also the home of the psionic Hydrans, Cat's lost alien half. Refuge had been theirs, like much of the galaxy, long before the ascendance of the human federation. Now they live like refugees amid the ruins of their past. For the first time in his troubled life, Citizen Cat has the chance to study, reflect, seek his roots. Until he hears a woman's scream...

Suddenly, Cat plunges through the false serenity of Refuge society into a nightmare of brutality, bigotry, conspiracy, and corruption, where kidnapping and terrorism are stepping-stones to revolution - or genocide. Beneath the velvet glove of Tau Biotech's corporate state is the iron fist of a government willing to kill to protect its profits. For Tau can only profit by plundering dreams. The broken dreams of Hydrans, whales, and humans... the stolen dreams of the world.