Haakon, an ex-naval captain, and master criminal Rama, a genetic cross between woman and cat, lead a team of misfits into the Cingulum, one of the last star systems to hold out against the Bahadur's tyranny.

To Mughal, planet of opulence, go Haakon, Rama, and the rest of the crew of Eurynome. Caught between the government of Mughal, the planet's underworld, and rebels plotting revolution, Haakon and Rama must seek out the top-secret project, Precious Pearl, which supposedly has discovered ways to circumvent the physical laws of the universe. To fail will mean their deaths; to succeed will mean worse for all mankind.

Once again the crew of Eurynome is thrust into the strange universes-turned-inside-out in that strange region of space called the Cingulum, where beings who might as well be gods created for their amusement worlds that cannot be.