There was only one thing on Ruby's mind when she complied with the Shuttle's orders: Emerald. Her own personal mission was clear: do as they tell me to ensure the safe return of my daughter. But when she arrives to carry out her duties, absolutely nothing is as it seems, deception is the only option for completing the mission, and now it's not just Emerald's life that hangs in the balance. Ruby and Xander's assemblage is forced to tiptoe through layers of deceit to avoid disrupting the fragile society they've been sent to observe. Methods employed are controversial, government systems are corroding and sacrifices must be made to keep threatening forces at bay. Complication erupts when the Shuttle team finds their guinea pig civilization gearing up for full scale revolution. "Sure, they're the same species as me, but we have absolutely nothing in common. Every ounce of human life is foreign to me. All of it: the language, their religion, the government, the food... I don't understand anything. And we're supposed to be genetically superior? I can assure you we're not."