In a futurist Kafkaesque world on the brink of war, Frances, an alien in fear for her life, tries to make her escape in face of an enemy invasion. Her only companion is Laitel, her lover and servant of Lohno, a fugitive of sorts whose philosophy of life has left him alone and in hiding.

But nothing is what it seems in this poetic, sharply imaginative story--a standout by a renowned master of the field.