Synopsis: Andrei Koscuisko is an Inquisitor for the Bench federation of worlds. It is his duty to root out - quickly, efficiently, quietly - anyone who would threaten the ruling order. Andrei has been posted to the penal facility at Port Rudistal. Here hundreds of prisoners - traitors who dared dream of freedom and self-rule - await interrogation. They know an Inquisitor's judgment is firm and unassailable. Yet there is a line that even he may not cross. Although an Inquisitor is not supposed to feel outrage, weakness or pity, Andrei is, above all, a man of honor. And now he must risk his career - and perhaps his life - exposing the truth that lies behind the black walls of Domitt Prison. (from the back cover of the first edition)