The year is 2117. In the farthest reaches of Earth's territorial space, a spree of depraved murders has local cattle ranchers fearing for their families. A fear, they will soon discover, that is more than justified. Apparently, John Gallic's reputation proceeded his arrival to the fringe-world of Muleshoe. A reputation suggesting he be given a wide berth. As the new Territory Abettor, commonly referred to as a Frontier Marshal, Gallic would be there for the long haul. Formally titled Detective Chief Inspector of the Spatial Colonial Police--District 22--he'd investigated only the highest profile murders and was a rising star within the department. But that life was in the past. Gallic now provided an assortment of backwater law enforcement services to the burgeoning deep-space frontier territories. Sure, there was an occasional smalltime crime to investigate, but more often than not Gallic spent his days--commissioned by the big Interstellar banks--repossessing billionaire ranchers' high-priced spacecraft. A glorified repo man. He was fine with that. It gave him spare time to do the one thing more important than anything else--find the murderer of his wife and child.