The president of the African state "Karombe" has died, prompting an international political battle between western parties intent on determining his replacement in order to protect their economic interests. But everything is not quite what it seems.

The FarReach project was the first step to getting humans onto other planets. Organised by the Combined Sciences Off-world Research Organisation (CSORO) it placed celebrated scientists on other worlds intending to crack the specific issues of each one and to make the worlds habitable. To minimise the non-research staff in each base CSORO brokered a deal to place the ADA management support computer into each base. ADA was developed by Babbage Information Systems to provide high-level strategic support for large corporations but, as an actual AI, was believed flexible enough to be used in any management or data gathering situation. Two years after it's inception the base on Proxima-b suddenly stopped responding.

When three friends investigate the environmental effects of an historic chemical spill they soon find themselves in a desperate situation, unaware that nature is always prepared protect itself, no matter what.