"I'm being stalked. I'm sure of it now. I'm frightened, and I need a friend."

Lizbeth Fugard is an archaeologist working on a backwater rock of a world. She's bankrolled by a government she despises, and has recently split up with her partner. And, just when she thinks life can't get any worse, someone starts following her — keeping to the shadows, but always there. Watching. Waiting. Eyes boring into her soul. The most beguiling eyes she has ever seen — and the most terrifying.

All she can think of is to call on the help of her old friend Professor Bernice Summerfield, and Bernice is only too happy to get away from her own work and see a bit more of the galaxy.

But on arrival she is soon immersed in sabotage, political secrets, gun-running, and an age-old love affair that ended in disaster and disgrace. To end a cycle of violence and hate, Bernice and Lizbeth must discover the truth — but doing so could have implications far beyond this obscure world.