Eight years have passed since Contrarian, and Steffan Dekkard is a moderately senior Craft Party councilor. The Craft Party holds a slim majority in the Council of Sixty-Six that rules the constitutional imperium of Guldor. But the Imperador’s health is failing, and many councilors have lost confidence in the current Premier.

As chairman of the powerful Security Committee, tasked with investigating threats to the Council and Imperium, Dekkard faces growing anger from powerful corporacions, having restricted their efforts to avoid the laws of Guldor and revealed their continuing corruption.

The murder of a government witness involved in a corruption case reveals a conspiracy that reaches into the Council of Sixty-Six. They will stop at nothing to bring down the Premier and Dekkard.