An essential question hovers over this second volume of the Medina saga: what separates the humans from their adversaries the Drax? Karloff finally comes face to face with Boso 1, who will accept nothing less than Hadron and his unborn child. The conservator and Karloff agree to a meeting at the site of Alice, the nuclear generator that first spawned the Drax arrival, to hash out the terms of an unprecedented agreement. Meanwhile, Hadron has strong opinions, but whose side is the fierce adolescent really on?