For three months, Cory and his team have hung with Asto's military in orbit, watching as drone armies attacked Earth. They could have helped more had Nations of Earth communicated with the fleet or if they could only find out where these drones come from, who controls them and from where. The enemy is smart, enmeshed with sections of Earth's population and Asto's military severely hamstrung by Nations of Earth playing chicken. Three months ago, the president contacted Cory asking for help. The connection was interrupted and never re-established. It's as if they don't want help. Cory's got gamra breathing down his neck with the requirement that Nations of Earth officially approves the presence of Asto's military in orbit. Something has to give. He and his team return to a battle-scarred Earth on a hare-brained mission to talk to Nations of Earth, to check on the president, to get him to sign for approval. Getting there is hard. The state of the Nations of Earth assembly is deeply troubling. But getting out, that's where it gets truly interesting.