Narikin Karasor and his friend Fengtai are living in exile on the university world of Rhyton. Their host is Moloch, the last tsar in the Third Sphere, guarded by the Sagan and a prisoner for all eternity. Desperate to see Evigone again, Moloch tells Narikin about a device, a panopticon, that allows telepaths to communicate across the spheres. It may even allow Narikin to speak to the Lords and save his people... All he has to do is steal a book from...