Something very odd is happening on the university planet of Dellah, home to Bernice Summerfield, famed archaeologist, adventurer, raconteur and barfly. A long-ignored religion is rapidly gaining recruits. The faithful rejoice and talk of their God walking the land once more. And in secret rooms on campus, arcane arts are practised with dangerously successful results.Behind these apparent absurdities, something far darker is going on, something that has consequences for everyone.