One man can make-or break-Earth's iron grip on its galacticcolonies: Stone Chalmers. Spy. Assassin. Earth's topoperative. On the newly-rediscovered colony world of New Moravia, an Earthoperative is murdered. Stone's mission: journey through an artificialwormhole to the planet. Find the perpetrators. And terminate them. Going undercover, with a cover persona overlaid on his mind andgenetic markers tweaked inside his cells, Stone expects an easymission. But on encountering shadowy, powerful men and dangerous women, Stonediscovers more than a plot that killed a fellow operative. A conspiracyplans a powerful blow against Earth's control of the planet. A blow that will kill tens of thousands of colonists. A blow supported by treacherous forces inside the government ofEarth. Join Stone on a distant planet in a headlong race against the clockin this, the first adventure in his complete four-novel series.