The Wanderer gathers many of the Shedai to a newly-formed planet in order to arouse them to make war on the quadrant. The Maker, the oldest of their kind, is not in attendance as she is still lost in the depths of space. With all his friends gone, Doctor Fisher decides to retire and leave to live near his daughter. He books passage in the VIP quarters aboard a freighter bound for Mars leaving in a few weeks. April 2270