In the far reaches of the galaxy, biology has taken a path far removed from the carbon-based evolution of Earth. On the planet Uller, forests are made of petrified wood and quartz; predators move with heavy, silicon-armored limbs, thriving in temperatures that would freeze a human heart solid. Nearby, on the lethal world of Niflheim, the very air is a cocktail of fluorine; a landscape so hostile that a single breath is a death sentence, and even the most advanced technology dissolves in minutes.
But for the Terran colonists of the Uller Company, the true danger isn’t the extreme seasons or the deadly chemistry of the stars. It is the rising tide of rebellion. Caught in the crossfire is Dr. Paula Quinton, a sociographer tasked with studying alien cultures, now forced to navigate a landscape of blood, acid rain, and political assassination.