Goloka -- myth, scam or Utopian dream? In the third book of the Synfederation Cycle, Xandra Rekabi and the crew of the Rho Ceti are determined to put a stop to the human traffickers preying on the Shingala settlement. Nima, Miq, Fract and Ganna, the raf'raf kids introduced in the Strange Attractor, struggle to adapt to a life free of the rafts, only to fall victim to a worse fate. Jelic fights to make sense out of her chaotic life and shadowy past. She wants only to give these raf'raf kids a chance at a better life than hers. But protecting them draws her into subtle and far-ranging conspiracy.