Geometry for Ocelots

History has reached its final chapter, and the broad outline of what remains is nearly fixed. Long before the present, civilization entered an age in which technology has taken on a sacred character. Its people now appear as holy animals, filling their days with contemplation and chemically induced bliss, with little notion of the grim facts beneath their utopia. When an ancient prophet is said to have returned, inhabiting a disturbed young girl, the calm that has held across the stars begins to fray.

Two siblings, both members of the ruling line, are at war at the close of time. One is a devout empress; the other is an alcoholic dean at a university. Resources across the galaxy are running out, and each is convinced that the answer lies with them, whether in spiritual redemption or in technological transcendence. Both prove badly wrong.