The Imperial Court has moved to Rozari, to the villa by the Pink Sea, while the Imperial Palace undergoes renovations and reconstruction. Steve and Rent have been confined to the villa by the Mad Emperor, prisoners under house arrest while living in paradise. Rent is fine with this, as he has taken a fancy to Eva, the new Imperial Finance Minister, who resides in the villa's annex. Steve, however, is anxious to escape from both his childhood bedroom and his indifferent wife, Joanne. In the meantime, Anne Black has arrived on Earth in a stolen Spaceforce shuttle. Preferring solitude and reclusiveness, she spends her days blasting crows with her laser, or assassinating the flowers in the garden of her rented doublewide. One afternoon, while shopping in the local Big Box store, Anne collides with a man whose voice sends shivers down her spine. Although he reminds her of someone, he is clearly someone else, someone intent on taking her to places she doesn't want to go, including jail.