We're surrounded. Aktlan is all around us in the stars, an empire of a thousand worlds. Its people are human, descendants of Earthly civilizations long forgotten. To Aktlan, Earth is both the Motherworld and one big interlocking disease, forever quarantined. They've been free of disease for millennia and don't want careless Earthlings bringing them new plagues.
Aktlan panics when Earth puts the Hubble Space Telescope in orbit. They worry their works will be seen in nearby star systems. They send four condemned criminals to disable Hubble. When in orbit, one of these four overpowers the other three, steals a small anti-gravity device and escapes to Earth. She'd rather die free and diseased.
Morion Qur-Malik, the out-of-favor officer who put the team together, is sent to Earth to recapture her. She's too alien to blend in, even in California; her presence alone will reveal Aktlan to Earthly powers. Mory feels betrayed, both by the woman who escaped and the superiors who sent him after her. Within twenty-four hours of arrival, Mory decides he wants to stay, too. Thirty years of being dumped on is all he can take. Mory may be done with Aktlan, but Aktlan’s not done with him.
