Imagine a world many years in the future, a world which has moved on significantly from 'Old Earth' - yet Colonial law still relies on Old Earth corporal punishment. Caitlin is a senior figure at The Exit Bureau, a place where women employees are regularly spanked for minor infractions. Caitlin regards herself above being spanked, but her arrogance does not go unnoticed, and she pays the price. And what a price. It begins with her negligence in paying her tax arrears and traffic violation fines; she is far too busy running her department to bother attending to such minor tasks. But her attitude soon changes when she is called to attend a judicial hearing at the Correction Centre and is subsequently sentenced to ten days of corporal punishment. Now the nightmare really begins. She is stripped and spanked and displayed in a pillory in public. She is subject to a harsh regime of paddling and caning and does not know how she will get through it - particularly as she has been set up - but by who and why? Time enough to ponder that later; her immediate concern is to endure the endlessly strict regime of corporal correction and public humiliation. Not an easy task...