The River: a hodgepodge of arcologies and platforms in a band around Ceres full of dreamers, utopians, corporatists-and transformed humans, from those with simple biomods to the exotic alien xenos and the totemics, remade with animal aspects. Gail Simmons, an itinerant salvor living aboard her ship Kismet, has docked everywhere totemics like her are welcome...and a few places they're not.

But when she's accused of stealing a databox from a mysterious wreck, Gail lands in the crosshairs of corporations, governments and anti-totemic terrorists. Finding the real thieves is the easy part. To get her life back, Gail will have to face her past-and what's at stake may be more than just her future.