Twenty-five-year-old Lucy Starr, a super enhanced being and Solver, has spent the last seven years working for Karnak. But she wants more ... so much more. She articulates her needs, telling Karnak she wants a man who will spank her until she surrenders and then use her for his sexual gratification; such a man would be a perfect fit for her heady Master/slave fantasy, allowing her to feel helpless in the hands of recognized authority, and experience punishment for being a sexual creature. There is a place she could go to realise her fantasies - the Alternaria Community out in the asteroids, an indoor city with an artificial sun. It is in Alternaria that she meets Bill. He is highly attracted to her and wants to look after her, but she wants to experience her fantasy of being spanked without the complication of knowing the man, so she answers an advert to give her a quick fix. Afterwards she makes a discovery which changes not only her own future, but Bill's too.

This volume also includes the following short stories: Period Certain; Assault; Arranger; A Summer Fling; Joy; The Taking; The Path of Vengeance; The Mountain in the Middle; and Slutf*ck.