Starting with former C.I.A. Agent (that's Colonial Intelligence Agency) Cindy-Mei Winter's arrival on the backwater Terran colony of Deanna, the planet's reputation for being the center of the universe as far as weirdness is concerned held true; strato-penguins that flew too high exploded, ha-ha birds crashed into everything, Ding, the small shiny moon really did fall down occasionally, and the Ruminarii - Humanity's long-lost adversaries - chose that exact same day to crash the party by invading the colony. Together with a string of interesting personalities on Deanna, including Fred the Arborian (the astonishing sentient and very mobile plant alien), Beck the Badfeller (Deanna's most famous bounty hunter), Peg (the Sheriff of Atro City), Timaset Skooch (a ramshackle P.I.) and the Skeggs Valley Dynamite Fishing Club (don't ask) - Mei must overcome a flurry of threats to life, liberty and peace and quiet,