Saito Yamagata's plans to create a staging area on Mercury for launching starships into deep space are complicated by the arrival of astrobiologist Victor Molina who is searching for evidence of life on the planet, Bishop Danvers of the New Morality who is concerned about the effects of what Molina might find on his fundamentalist message, and Mance Bracknell who is plotting revenge against them all.
Presents a study of Mercury; and examines early observations and astronomers, where it is located in the solar system, comparisons to other planets in the solar system, and scientific information gathered about Mercury.