Devestated her husband's death, Earth-based biologist Yoshiko Sunadomari journeys to the paradise world of Fulgor to see her estranged son, Tetsu, in the hopes of bridging the gulf between them.

But Tetsuo is in trouble. His expertise in mu-space tech and family links with the Pilots-mysterious navigators of the fractal dimensions between worlds-have ensured his survival. So far. Now he's in way of his head - unwittingly caught up in a conspiracy of illegal tech-trafficking and corruption, and in the sinister machinations of one of Fulgor's ruling elites: the charismatic Luculentus Rafael Garcia de la Vega. When his home is attacked, Tetsuo flees to the planet's unterraformed wastes, home to society's outcasts and ecoterrorists.

So Yoshiko arrives on Fulgor to discover Tetsuo gone . . . and wanted for murder. Ill at ease in this strange, stratified new world seething with social and political unrest but desperate to find her son and clear his name, she embarks on a course of action that will bring her face to face with the awesome, malevolent mind of Rafael. . . .