Two centuries from now, in the Confederation, the Tyrellian uprising has ended badly. The Loyalists have defeated the Rebels, but nothing is cut-and-dried. On Earth, the Chicago Fraud Wars have also ended. There is an uneasy truce between North American law enforcement and the terrifying corporate giant, General Mercantile. Officer Jem Grayson of the Chicago Police Department, a nerved-up, burnt-out Fraud teamer straight from the battle, is sent to an out-of-the-way agricultural space station to "assist" GM as a diplomatic measure. But is she investigating a murder, or not? Or is it more fraud? Who is to blame – the bitter, exiled young aristocrat who is watching his lifeline slide away? Or the remarkable aliens who were ditched here during the uprising? Is it possible that an artificial intelligence is behind this – and can it hold a grudge? Grayson and her new ally, the Comte de Bourriac, race to retrieve and preserve this lost paradise before the answers kill them.