Myson has recruited an expendable veteran named Alexander Delgado for a special mission. The Seriatt, a three-gendered race with whom Earth has a history of tension, are annoyed by Myson's arms trade with another race through the wormhole near the Seriatts' homeworld. Myson's solution was to beget an heir for both races on the Seriatts' royal child-bearer, Lycern. But Lycern then went missing. Delgado's job is to find her and bring her to Myson.
Delgado, a cynical maverick mistrusted and abused by a new crop of intelligence officers loyal to Myson, sees the mission as an opportunity to regain his old status; perhaps he might even be able to use Lycern as leverage to retard Structure's growing corruption. His plans, however, reckon without Lycern, who is not only willful but whose biology exerts a powerful and primal effect on Delgado's mind and body. From the moment Delgado extracts Lycern from the quasi-religious Affinity compound, his universe spins and he no longer understands who he is.
During a detour on a leisure station, Delgado's internal war causes him first to betray Lycern to Myson, and then to regret having done so. Ending up back on Earth among the street people he'd once ignored, Delgado now knows who he is, who he must be: Myson's enemy, and the one who must rescue Lycern—and their unborn son.
Love, power and chemistry
Delgado's problem is one of identity. He rose through the ranks on a reputation for efficiency and rectitude, only to be shunted aside under a corrupt new regime uninterested in such qualities. Disheartened, he seizes on the Affinity mission, only to find in Lycern a new challenge to his sense of self. He can't tell whether the compulsive attraction he feels for this unlovely alien is emotional or chemical; worse, the titanic biological effect of Seriatt intercourse twists Delgado's perceptions and his capacity for judgment.
This fascinating idea is propelled by a merely serviceable plot. One problem is that the internal nature of these issues seems to cause a disinterest in locales. The Affinity society could have been made relevant, but it's merely the random place where Delgado abducts (and beds) Lycern. A bloody encounter with a colleague seems like a turning point but is promptly forgotten. They visit a cylindrical pleasure station: It's called Elixiion, but it really should be called Rama, and this too is a venue, not a part of the story. Delgado's subsequent capture is pure contrivance to get him back on Earth to rescue Lycern—an alien with a shot at being unusual, but who by this point is merely a damsel in distress. (The cover is also slightly misleading, featuring not Lycern but a character that doesn't surface until the final third of the book.)
Sketchley is at his best making the advanced technology seem both everyday and extremely useful. As an operative Delgado carries implanted nanotechnology called nobics that interfaces with computers, guidance systems and so on; the mechanics are less important than the challenges of parsing massive data streams under pressure or emotional torment. Taking up with survivors led by a conflicted ex-farmer named Bucky, Delgado repairs the leader's faulty gun, mirroring the effect he has on the young man's soul.
I had the feeling after Lycern dropped out of the story halfway through that Sketchley had switched over to a different novel. I kind of wish he'd finished the one he started. —Mark
