On Dellah, the shattered former home of Bernice Summerfield, only the Advanced Research centre survives — the last remnant of the once famous university. But it's under siege from fanatical groups of religious inquisitors, searching for new converts or dangerous heretics. Benny would have to be mad to go back. Jason Kane, Bernice's one-time husband and all-time opportunist, has found the ancient remains of the Oracle of the Lost on an obscure planetoid known only as KS-159. Or so he says. Benny would have to be mad to believe him. Benny would have to be mad to suggest KS-159.