At the close of the twentieth century a series of natural disasters tear the United States apart. A new organization, the Association for Peace and Progress, forms to assist the government in restoring order, in part by erecting a Barrier from Lake Erie to the Gulf of Mexico, behind which lies safety and security. Martin Selkirk, an extraterritorial, protects the Association's interests outside the Barrier, although he has only a hazy idea of what he does. When he begins to realize the atrocities he has committed for the Association he plans his revenge.