Leand was a respected man in the town of Sinbara who befriended Jorma after a bad burn out. Jorma treasured his friendship and the chance for a new start he'd been given. Then Leand had a beautiful, smart, lusty and driven daughter named Tdeshi who became Jorma's lover once she was grown. But after only a year sharing his cabin, she became determined to continue her education in the distant city of Kassidor Yakhan. Neither Jorma nor Leand could convince her to change those plans and his friendship with Leand was hurt when she left. When she erased her mind with the drug called shonggot, that had been the end of his friendship with Leand.

Twenty one decades later, Tdeshi returns, claiming to be Tdeshi's clone daughter raised in the Kassikan. Jorma fears that distant lair of powerful wizards, but is determined to win Tdeshi back in hopes of restoring his friendship with Leand as well as re-living their passionate affair. To do so he must journey with her to the Yakhan and investigate the circumstances of Tdeshi's loss. He must face his fear of the Kassikan and his denial of the role he played in her loss.

There are only a few things that make this science fiction. It takes place on the planet Kassidor, and the Instinct is a key factor in the plot. Other than that, this is a murder mystery among ordinary people leading ordinary lives (at least to start). Besides the surface mystery of 'who done it', there is the mystery of how a life can be taken when the Instinct paralyzes anyone who tries to physically harm another. There is also the problem of Jorma's denial, his denial of what Tdeshi has become and his denial of the part he played in it. The events happened long in the past, there has been plenty of time for memories to change.

Early on in the investigation, both Jorma and Tdeshi's clone daughter learn the case is not as simple as it seems. Powerful people at the Kassikan are drawn into it and both of them come to feel they may be victims of a cover-up. They come to fear that Tdeshi may have been taken by the Kassikan for use in a secret project. While this happens, their love affair becomes tangled with others who may not be what they seem.