On the fringes of the Draconian Empire, an entire planet has gone mad: twenty million Draconians lie dead -- victims of an ancient, apocalyptic suicide ritual. Now the Draconians need an archaeologist -- and in particular they want Professor Bernice Summerfield. Female and human, Benny is everything a Draconian distrusts... So why has she been invited to the very heart of the Imperial Homeworld? As an age-old conspiracy deepens around her, and her own bad memories are disturbed, Benny wonders if she can really trust the Draconians... ...and, even worse, if she can even trust herself...