On Venus, the Council of Matriarch rules. The society of immortals govern themselves with the iron guidelines of the Manifesto, but the rest of the population is not so controlled.

Among the floating cities in the upper atmosphere, living space is at a premium. Among the working-class citizens, life is a grind of day-in and day-out drudgery, with nothing to look forward to but the inevitability of old age and death. Jackson Harding time-shares a bunk in a communal dormitory, his only dream is to someday afford a room of his own. A new opportunity at work might give him the opening he longs for, if he can survive the dangerous work environment long enough to capitalize on it.

The tensions among the desperate workers are growing to near-riot proportions, but for the matriarchs and their immortal sons, life continues as normal. The daughter of an immortal, Leila Everard is about to have her own coming of age ceremony, where if everything goes well, she will join the matriarchs with her mother.

An accident sparks a chain of events that drag the orderly, structured life of the matriarchs into the grimy desperation of the common citizens. In this riveting sequel to The December Protocol, nobody is safe. The promise of a life everlasting means nothing if you can't survive until tomorrow.