In this novel, an alternate history unfolds about the Civil War.
Victor is a Person Bound to Labor, has escaped the states in the South where slavery remained legal because of a fictitious assassination of President Lincoln before he took office. He is a spy for US Marshal Bridge, but the government basically extorts him into it. He gathers recon about an operation called Underground Airlines. When he and his new friend Martha are caught stealing from a breakfast buffet, they flee, and in the process, the meet Jackdaw, a freeborn African-American guy who is in college. His real name is Kevin.
Kevin works with Father Barton, we learn, which is the leader of the Underground Airlines. When Kevin tries to fight slavery, he is defeated by the police who also kidnap his ex-girlfriend. He is shot and killed in the commotion. Meanwhile, Victor realizes that there is a corporate conspiracy afoot. The rest of the world still moved on from slavery and no longer purchases American goods produced by slaves, so the slave plantations produce goods and then hired people to take the goods to market by lying.
They go to "The Fence" where Border Patrol keeps slaves from escaping slave states. He goes undercover and decides to betray Father Barton. He is captured by Officer Cook, who turns out to be a double agent too, but he betrays Barton and Victor both. Officer Cook is killed in the scuffle. Then, we learn that the truth of GGSI, the company with the conspiracy, is actually guilty of a far worse crime than Victor imagined. They are breeding a new genetically engineered slave race for even more slave labor. The novel ends with a promising story of Victor and Martha infiltrating GGSI headquarters.
