By the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, the U.S. has been transformed into a country run by dictatorial bureaucrats, criminal organizations, and secret government projects, all nominally overseen by septuagenarian presidents who no longer have any real power. People hunker down, do their jobs, and try not to get noticed. The police have their hands full. Legal contracts can be taken out against anyone, and fulfilled by contract killers. Overseeing some of these killers is a government project called The Protocol. The best of the killers is Thyme Amaretto, a mysterious woman from Sri Lanka who is an Olympic biathlon champion. But she is particular about her contracts; she has scruples. And that terrifies The Protocol, because she could turn on them. Complicating everything is the arrival on Earth of some aliens. Many remain hidden, watching. A few align with The Protocol, and commit to special tactics. Only Thyme Amaretto can stop this. Unless she is stopped first.