Every Galactic Guard dreads being rotated to the SkyStation. It's not in space, but in the atmosphere, usually visible from the planet. Once upon a time, civilian starship shuttles couldn't cope with the transition from upper to lower atmosphere, so SkyStations were created, where passengers would transfer from the starship shuttles to the planetary ones, for the final leg of the journey. Since then, shuttle design has improved beyond recognition; stargrazers over four thousand storeys tall are commonplace, so few visitors ever actually reach the surface of a planet; teleportation is now starting to make shuttles altogether redundant. Niobe MacLaren just hopes that the success of teleportation doesn't send the shuttle company out of business this week. The SkyStation has no teleportation node. The only way on or off is by shuttle and there is only one kind of shuttle that can still dock with the station. If the shuttle breaks down (it has happened), Niobe could be facing an extra week catching up on her reading and using non-essential fixtures for target-practice.