Life running the most powerful House in the galaxy can be vexing. Navigating relationships with two wives can be difficult. Renny needs an heir. He needs to free the Minds and human indentures trapped in the system his own family created over centuries. He needs to ignore the siren song of his Dust addiction. He would really rather make murals, but the galaxy has other plans for him. That is, until someone throws him over the edge of the Overlook into the great chasm at San Marco. Skimming for junk is a precarious way to eke out a living. Then the Lucky Pig discovers something extraordinary, some great artifact of the gate builders suddenly appearing on a dead planetoid. This could be their big break, if only they can figure out a way to get something before the great Houses come to take it all away from them. In a sprawling space adventure that picks up from the action on Atraxian Blue and Palisade Green, the paths of the crews of the Kintsugi and the Lucky Pig collide in the field of a mysterious ring of light left by the gate builders. Can they work together to use the power wisely? Or will the whole galaxy explode into war as the great Houses fight over whose hand will hold this new cudgel?