Stationmaster and exiled aristocrat Albert St. John Rembrandt—Bertie to his friends—is in love with a Tolari ruler he believes he can't have. When he nearly dies finding out the hard way that some Tolari are as poisonous as their planet, it's only the beginning of his troubles.

A ship has gone missing and his station is in crisis, and Bertie must somehow recover his health and manage the disaster while trying to decide whether to accept genetic modification in order to be with the man he loves.

The problem with that is no Rembrandt has ever taken a gen mod.