The Ogatu are an advanced reptilian race, dedicated to commerce and profit. When a small Ogatu Corporation (their word for family) found Earth, their greedy little eyes practically glowed in anticipation: a race of semi-intelligent beings that are unable to travel the stars! How wonderful! Their next course of action? Exploit the stupid humans.
A deal was struck by the Ogatu Corporation and members of the United States Government: the Ogatu would give advanced technological schematics in exchange for "organic assets"--slaves. Faced with the threat of global invasion by the Ogatu, the Government agrees. All goes smoothly for the first decade.
When Max Drago, a high school kid from Colorado Springs, asks the right question at the wrong time, his life, and many others, will be thrown in to chaos. He will lose everything, eventually becoming an "organic asset". Max will become a slave on a faraway frozen moon, where he will discover he is dying. With the aid of an alien female with mysterious powers, Max will have to find a way to escape the clutches of the Ogatu.