In this future, humanity has survived long enough to expand 50 light years in every direction, and made alliances with three other intelligent species they've encountered. The bounds of their exploration are continually expanding, so a head of their security service commissioned the creation of artificial constructs to survey the boundary in case there was any sort of threat. Naturally the constructs went rogue, killed everyone in the research lab, and used the matter transporter to scatter to that perimeter.
So on the surface, I expected this story would be about the hunt for the Morgan Constructs, about the teams (composed of one member of each species) made to hunt them down and the troubles they would face. That's not really what Sheffield's after, as the actually hunts are barely referred to, and when the time comes, the constructs are apparently immobilized with ease.It's less of a chase thriller and more a shell game. It took me a while to figure that out, but the story pacing made more sense once I did.
Different sides manipulating one another or jockeying for advantage, everyone holding their own motives close to the vest. The other alien species, none of which are particularly violent, nonetheless insist they must have representatives on the hunter teams. Esro Mondrian plays games of influence with Luther as a theoretically allied security chief. He tries to undercut Luther, and Luther tries to undercut him, but in the process gets himself crosswise of a scientist who unleashes an elaborate revenge plot. Esro himself ends up tangled in an alien's plan to try and find the source of his trauma, which is what drove him to commission the Morgan Constructs in the first place.
There are some gaps I don't think Sheffield really papers over. The last trap unleashed on Luther doesn't make sense, because the Margrave of Fujitsu wouldn't have known to unleash it on him when he created it. Unless the programming didn't assert itself until a particular moment. More critically, one of the characters undergoes an intelligence boost and starts having mysterious blackouts. These blackouts are never explained. I think there's an explanation we're supposed to assume, but he was experiencing them before that is a viable answer.
For a time, it seemed as though Sheffield was hinting the character had developed an alter, or perhaps that enhancing his intelligence made him a psychopath, but that doesn't seem to be the case. It's like Sheffield made so many mysteries and secrets he lost track of some of them. And while I'm always skeptical of any story that starts touting the benefits of hive minds, I did appreciate Sheffield's attempt to distinguish the different ways in which the intelligent species perceive and assimilate information, the differences in their thought processes.
'Skrynol leaned back on her hind joints and chittered with amusement. "Your human term for this is unique to your species, but it is appropriate. You call it a 'conflict of interest' - always, you see, you think in terms of conflict, war, battle, fighting."
"What would a Pipe-Rilla call it?"
"It would not arise. To us, the good of the many always takes priority over the need of the individual. We do not claim credit for this. It is built into us from the first meiosis."'
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