Cirrus@Austlit

'The year is 2401, the location a farming settlement on the northwest coast of North Island, Aotearoa. Pia has lived at Kauri Haven since fleeing imprisonment in Australia for seditious activities, through the intervention of Kaire, the man she calls the Skyman. On the first anniversary of her mother Sannah's death, Pia's fragile composure threatens to shatter upon receiving disturbing news from the Brown Zone in apartheid Australia. Five Line Leaders have been incarcerated in the infamous prison complex beneath the central desert. An ingenious plan is undertaken to free the women, but from the moment Pia meets the youngest, Yuki, she feels troubled. Her fears are compounded when Kaire receives unexpected orders, which threaten his survival and that of his Sky friends. Can Pia assist Kaire in his preferred mission, without compromising her position as an authorised refugee?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'When Sannah the Storyteller, a descendant of environmental refugees from drowned Pacific islands, finds a White stranger on her domestep, she presumes he's a political prisoner on the run seeking safe passage to egalitarian Aotearoa. However, Kaire's unusual appearance, bizarre behaviour, and insistence he's a pilgrim suggest otherwise. Appalled by apartheid Australia, Kaire uses his White privileges to procure vital information for Sannah and her group of activists regarding new desert prisons that are to be built to house all political prisoners. The group plans sabotage but needs help, and Kaire is a willing accomplice. But when Sannah turns Truthteller and threatens to reveal the country's true history, even Kaire's White privilege and advanced technology cannot save Sannah and her daughter from retribution.' (Publication summary)