Miasma is a colony world, isolated from the rest of the human galactic expansion. The various communities living there for the most part accept their unique technological and social constraints without really examining them, and carry on being an advanced human civilisation as best they can.Lanton the packet runner, Emi the librarian, and Mokan the scientist are each dissatisfied in different ways. Curiosity, thwarted passion, and dangerous ambition ultimately lead them to a sinister explanation for what the Miasma colony really is.