Mr Crane is back from the dead. Imperfectly resurrected by Jain technology, the brass killing machine is haunted by a violent past. One he can't fully forget or truly remember. As his new master sets him on an improbable mission, to hunt a dragon, he seeks to heal his shattered mind. When Agent Cormac learns his brass enemy lives, he pursues him to Cull. On this frontier world, each day is a struggle for survival. Ferocious insectile monsters roam the volatile planet. And the low-tech human settlers are desperate to reach their ancestors' starship - orbiting tantalisingly out of reach. An entity calling itself Dragon assists them, but what are its real motives? If it threatens the Polity, Cormac must intervene.