"You are a component; purpose unknown."Being the space and time of Skidmore Shuffledeck, galactic mechanic.Tutored on the machine world of Perridi, Skidmore takes his first steps into a space divided. The human diaspora is in full swing, just not in the twelve worlds, where Horatio Holroyd bends the void and Yours Truly chases his tail. Or on the cusp of the apocalypse, where Terminals seek the star at the centre of the universe - that they might destroy it.Skidmore has to learn fast. Firstly, interspatial displacement, aka "the trumpet". Secondly, himself, and who he can trust. For the difference between man and machine is the difference between passive stoicism and frenzied blood.