The colony was successful. That was evident as soon as the recontact ship "Daedalus" had landed. It was successful, prosperous, and everything was due to the work and genius of J. Wildeblood, biochemist and planetary leader.

The world even now bore the name of its benefactor. And it was truly his empire, with a grateful, hard-working people heeding every wish of his descendants.

But the suspicious scientific minds of the "Daedalus's" special crew were very uneasy. Was Wildeblood's Empire all it seemed - or was there a structure invisible to the eye which spelled out something a lot more blood-curdling?

Once again the talented hand of Brian M. Stableford shapes a world-sized mystery that only solid science could solve.