Railas finds himself powered up on a world distant from Earth. And he has an unusual job. He is to be the official justice of Shangri-La, the first human presence on Titan, one of the moons of Saturn.

But his first case turns up more than his employers anticipate. A rogue outsider accused of stealing a methane substation appears to be trafficking in more than just methane and illegal gambling. Otherwise how could he have acquired more wealth than one could earn in a lifetime?

The trail of evidence leads Railas beyond the walls of the colony and into the methane lakes of Titan in search of a missing human woman that nobody on the station seems to remember.