In the twenty-second century spies do not necessarily serve nation-states. Private interests can employ the espionage agents and armies as well as any country, and they do this to lethal effect. Royalty and robber barons all must watch their backs, for they never know when private contractors are setting them in their sights. Market share is as deadly as Weapons of Mass Destruction, and all the wealthy and powerful know it. Yet you can be killed for dominating the market place, and you never let your guard down. Lines of credit and outstanding shares must be protected just like state secrets, or you can become displaced just as if you were without protection. The near future is a world of danger, and businessmen are as rabid as wild animals, and more insidious. The world has no love for people without favor or money, and that is the world Octavia Pomona struggles to navigate.