In addition, treaties with alien races allow for the extradition of humans to other worlds to stand trial.

Trackers, similar to bounty hunters, seek the disappeared and return them to justice, or to those willing to pay for them to be found again.

The corpse is initially identified as Jane Zweig, a famous business person who operates an extraterrestrial "extreme sports" corporation.

Miles Flint, the Retrieval Artist who used to work for DeRicci, is almost simultaneously hired to also look for Frieda Tey, who they think has been living under the name Jane Zweig.

By the time that the police determine that the murder scene was staged, the fast-acting virus that Tey had used on Io was starting to affect the runners in the marathon.