They call them the "rat-catchers." They're the crew of the spaceship Daedalus, sent out by an economically despressed Earth to re-establish contact with its long-lost colony worlds. Dendra is a stable planet covered by a huge, unchanging forest. The settlement sent to tame the world has failed, and now seems beyond redemption; but the crew of the Daedalus still has to find out exactly why and how the program has gone wrong. Provided, of course, that they can survive the inquiry itself Daedalus Mission, Book Two.