Panoply is a small, efficient police force, dedicated to maintaining the rule of democracy among the ten thousand disparate city states orbiting the planet Yellowstone.
Ingvar Tench was one of Panoply's most experienced operatives. So why did she walk alone and virtually unarmed into a habitat with a vicious grudge against her organisation?
As his colleagues pick up the pieces, Dreyfus must face his conscience. Four years ago, when an investigation linked to one of his most dangerous adversaries got a little too personal, Dreyfus arranged for Tench to continue the enquiry by proxy.
In using her - even though he had his reasons - did Dreyfus also put her in the line of fire?
And what does Tench's misadventure tell him about an enemy he had hoped was dormant?
Praise for Alastair Reynolds:
'A leading light of the new British space opera' Los Angeles Review of Books on Alastair Reynolds
'One of the giants of the new British space opera' io9 on Alastair Reynolds
'[Reynolds is] a mastersinger of the space opera' The Times (UK) on Blue Remembered Earth
'[Reynolds] is the most gifted hard SF writers working today' Publishers Weekly on Beyond the Aquila Rift