In a galaxy of advanced technology and dark magic, two paths cross, not for the first time. The Commonwealth, a robot haven, has acquired a problem. Diplomatic relations with Jonson's Point, a backwater human colony, have stalled. A lone holdout, Velia Jonson, stands in the way of a mutually beneficial tech contract. Lacking options, but with ulterior motives, the Commonwealth sends Seti 639, an unorthodox and frustrated individual whose reward for...