Aiah worked for the Plasm Authority, metering the shimmering substance that powered the world-city, until she fell in love with Constantine, the rebel Metropolitan fighting a war to overthrow the corrupt dynasty of the Keremaths. Now the war is over, and Aiah is at the mercy of the tyrant she created. In this sequel to Metropolitan, the seductive Constantine is a minister controlling the new government which rules Caraqui, a city filled with genetically altered "twisted" bandits and refugees. As sexually irresistible as ever, the former rebel has a new job for Aiah: track down the outlaw plasm divers of Caraqui and recruit them to help destroy the Silver Hand, a murderous remnant of the old kleptocracy. Constantine's war against the Handmen will put Aiah in touch with her lost Barkazil heritage. And it may allow her to get a glimpse of heaven itself, and discover what waits beyond the Shield.