A story of suspense, love, doubt, death, and vicious political revolt in the twenty fourth century, an era governed by ideals of reason, non-violence, consensus and social harmony, with an average life span well over one hundred, and strict limits on the time anyone is allowed to work and produce anything of value. Guidi, an astronomer who by mid-life has already squandered his work-time allowance, cannot adjust to the forced inactivity that awaits him. After a violent breakdown he is condemned to personality deconstruction, but is helped to escape, and becomes unwittingly involved in a conspiracy to overturn the existing order. In time he learns that his breakdown had been deliberately provoked by the conspirators, who needed him as a stand-in for one of their former leaders. Ultimately, however, Guidi finds his peace as a sculptor in a remote mountain village, although he knows that his work will not be allowed to survive him. This peace is shattered when, after a violent takeover, the conspirators institute a reign of terror that touches some of Guidi's closest friends before being in turn overthrown by a powerful counter-revolt. Guidi participates in this counter-revolt, and escapes punishment as one of the original conspirators by proving not only his real identity, but also the fact that his earlier breakdown had been set up by the conspirators.