Eight million dollars for a special assignment, to report on the new colony of Empyrion, ten light-years from earth. How could Orion Treet refuse? But why had Cynetics Chariman Neviss gone to such lengths to track him down? There was little time to think. Within the hour Treet was on board the transport, hurtling through space with a handful of oddly-assorted companions. What they saw, streaking through the atmosphere, was a turquoise world, blue-green with vegetation, water and sky. A free and perfect world - or so it seemed. How could Treet know, when, what lay ahead? The Empyrion they had discovered was not the Empyrion they set out to find...