The Prefect

Want an alternative to the Matrix style virtual reality future ? Consider this: A network of space colonies that use virtual reality to augment, rather than replace, the surrounding environment. Each colony is built around a unique theme, the only uniting factor is the network itself. Plus, of course, the police, whose only task is to make sure voting rights of the individual citizens are not infringed upon. Put all of this together and you get the Panoply, a human community of the Glitter Band space colonies where this book takes place.

Tom Dreyfus is one of the policemen of the Panoply. His rank is that of a field prefect, the very last step before the cozy office jobs of the senior prefects that run the police force. Add to that the fact that he is held in a special trust by Jane Aumonier, the supreme prefect herself, and it is clear that the cases Tom Dreyfus works on are nothing if not special. Which includes the current one - an interference with the voting system by one of the space colonies, punishable by a century long forced isolation - and if that is not enough, add to it a sudden destruction of another colony by what appears to be a rogue space ship.

Of course, things are not as they seem. Before long, Tom Dreyfus becomes convinced that the crew of the rogue space ship was not to blame for the destruction the ship itself wrought, and eventually, even the case of the voting anomaly turns out to be anything but straightforward. Add alien races, faithful sidekicks, machine intelligence, traitorous insiders ... and all the ingredients of a detective thriller crossed with science fiction are in place.