Ghosts of the Oikumene

Lightning the spotlight falls on Diego Perale, a modest fencing instructor. The Great Pompilia, the empire of wolf-people, issues an ultimatum: cooperation or slavery? Cold-blooded he’matry? people-computers lose their composure at the mention of the maestro—should they save him or eliminate him? The genius professor is ready for anything just to have Diego let himself be studied. A dead girl screams into space: where are you, Señor Perale? A pack of predatory beasts roams the expanses of the galaxy: where are you, Señor Perale?

What remains for the maestro? Like in the plays of his famous father—rapier, revenge, love. Though the rapier is no longer quite a rapier, revenge is no longer quite revenge, and only love remains the same.