The planet Carico is short on technology and long on wide-open spaces. When Seth Reilly returns home to Under Rim, it isn't the peaceful village he remembers. Trouble is in the wind, and the new girl in town, Anni, is at the heart of it. Seth and Anni cross Jerdix, an outlaw who tortures Seth with a device prohibited throughout the Interstellar Coalition. Unable to cope, Seth flees to a lonely camp where he becomes obsessed with taming a horse as damaged as he is. Anni follows, determined to help him. But Jerdix is still out there. Can Seth and Anni survive Jerdix' threat and find the help they both need to heal?