The story in one page
The Paratime Police face a crisis as an underground organization systematically kidnaps people from diverse history lines to sell them as slaves. Agents Vall and Dalla investigate a specific sector where a local boss facilitates these shipments. By using narco-hypnosis on rescued victims and mapping their recollections of landscape features, the police narrow down the location of the smugglers' base. The investigation escalates into a multi-sector operation involving surveillance and targeted strikes to dismantle the network. As the case concludes, the agents turn their attention to managing the fallout and reintegrating survivors into new lives.
Who's who
- Vall
A persistent Paratime Police investigator tracking the kidnapping ring.
- Dalla
An agent working alongside Vall to identify the slave traders.
- Tortha Karf
The senior police official coordinating operations from headquarters.
- Nebu-hin-Abenoz
A local leader facilitating the movement of slaves.
What it's really about
- Interdimensional Law
- Policing crimes across infinite possible histories.
- Historical Displacement
- The consequences of removing people from their timelines.
Why it's memorable
- A robot phone gliding on rollers to locate its recipient.
- Agents dropping thousands of tracker balls to scan a continent.
The ending, explained
Spoilers — show the ending
Tortha Karf learns of a violent uprising on a distant sector, necessitating immediate police intervention. He leaves the agents to attend to the escalating conflict.
For your book club
- The practical difficulty of hunting fugitives in an infinite multiverse.
- Using psychological interrogation to turn victims into human maps.