The story opens in a court room in a Central American city. Hubert, age 30, an American archaeologist, is on trial for allegedly smuggling a native art work out of the country. He is also suspected of an association with Afronta, a revolutionary organization which controls the county's remote provinces. ... Held in prison, most of it in isolation, Hubert is experiencing a psychological disorder: uncertainty as to whether he can trust his own perceptions...