Ariel Jameson Crust is a jaded investigator with an unusual name. In the twenty third century the earth has seen cataclysmic environmental changes and wars that have exterminated over half the world's population. Despite amazing technologies, nations have shattered and society stalled. Humanity has clustered into vast cities where the world's rulers vie for power and profit. As the American Central Republic prepares to elect a new Governor, Ariel is asked to uncover the identity of decades-old human remains. But as he gets closer to solving the riddle he learns more and more about his strange client and not for the first time, is drawn into the shadowy intrigues of the new world order.