Hazel d'Ark, ex-clonelegger and ex-pirate, is an official hero of the great rebellion - but she's also been kidnapped; now it's up to the legenday Owen Deathstalker to venture into the Obeah Systems to find and rescue his companion in arms. But there's more behind the kidnapping, for the Blood Runners, Hazel's evil captors, have been influencing present day affairs in the Empire far more than anyone realized - and they have stolen a part of the Madness Maze to use as a power source. Then just as all loose ends are being tied up, as everyone is bidding air to live happily ever after, the Recreated turn up to threaten the existence of all humanity ... and Owen Deathstalker must play the hero one more time ...