On Observation Platform 5, preparations are being made for the arrival of the Queen of Galinthia, due to visit the forbidden planet. Ziann Mara, communications officer, contacts her conspirators using space-red, a drug that expands space and time. She's secretly in love with Commander Heltz but whose side is he on? Can she trust him? While events race towards political disaster and an inevitable war, the Queen takes her "holiday" in the body of a Neanderthal woman called Yani. Learning to survive on a primitive world, she discovers a different kind of power - and the truth about the one they call "Meridian."

Extract: The scream was pulled from her, long and thin, a wail that went on and on until, in the end, she was where she always was: in the water, shivering, naked, hair dripping in her face.Someone handed her a white sheet and she stood up, wrapping it around herself, fingers numb with cold. The sheet clung to her and did nothing to warm her but at least she was hidden from view."Every time," said the other. "Can't you think of another way to arrive?""Every time," said Ziann crossly, "you ask me that question."

This is a stand-alone novella, the first in what will be the second volume of the Exodus Sequence. Reading the first volume will enhance this story, but it isn't necessary for full understanding.