Helly and his oddly assorted band of companions attempt to capture a crucial witness to the Galapharma conspiracy, who has taken refuge on a hostile planet. Galapharma's insanely ambitious boss, Alistair Drummond, will stop at nothing in his quest for power, and Helly is marked for death as the two corporations continue to do battle.

Meanwhile, the Haluk follow their own appalling agenda, using human science to mutate their bodies and allow them to infiltrate human society. Helly must find a way to alert the Commonwealth to the Haluk peril, while also saving his family from Drummond's increasilngly desperate efforts to annihilate the Rampart Worlds.