Corta Helio, one of the five family corporations that rule the Moon, has fallen. Its riches are divided up among its many enemies, its survivors scattered. Two Helio children are under the protection of the powerful Asamoahs. One, still reeling from witnessing his parents' violent deaths, is now a ward of Mackenzie Metals. And the last appointed heir, Lucas, has vanished. Only one person suspects that Lucas Corta is not dead, and - more to the point - that he is still a major player in the game. Lucas would go to any lengths to build a new Corta Helio. But he needs allies, and to find them must undertake an audacious, impossible journey - to Earth. And while he schemes, the families erupt into outright war.