Much had been done to limit and destroy the powers of the terrible Hivers, who had torn through space annihilating every living thing that stood in their way. But still the Alliance - of Human and furry Mrdini - had to discover the whereabouts of every last Hiver world and stop the Queens from further colonization. Of Damia's children, some were put on the Hiver search, and others, the gifted and valuable T-1 Talents, were worked to the point of exhaustion as planets destroyed by the Hivers were opened up for colonization by the rapidly exploding Mrdini population. And there was dissent within the Star League Worlds - a growing resentment of the power and privileges of the Talents, most especially the dynasty that stemmed from the Rowan and Damia. As a new Talent, Vagrian, a flawed T-2, was shipped in to help Laria's exhausted team, he brought with him tension and antagonism, an outward sign of the trouble fermenting among the Star Worlds.