Talin Corwin, son of Jack Corwin and Claury Finisterre (Coralia), former soldier, escapee from an escape-proof prison, and now one of the most wanted and evasive of criminal fugitives among the human worlds, finally falls into a carefully laid trap by the immensely wealthy and powerful Klaast Turill, who presents Talin and Cassie, another criminal, with two options. They will either be delivered to the police and return to the prison they escaped from, or they can help Turill to commit an act of sabotage that will change the course of human history, and help Turill establish a completely artificial society on a secret far-distant planet called 'Tethys' by its late discoverer.