The second book in the Omorti series. Earth's only off-world colony is rebuilding after an attack that nearly destroyed it. Newlyweds, Kat and Terry O'Neal have created a retreat for themselves far enough from the colony that their telepathic abilities will not cause paranoia among the "deaf" colonists, but it is not to last. Relatives of the cat-like alien Terry killed defending the colony, have returned looking for vengeance. In the meantime, Terry is drawn into the politics of the Bak, a race he suspects of seeding Earth with humanity.