Emperor Wray Vasteri is the ruler of the Tornian Empire. His House has ruled the Empire ever since the Great Infection, which struck over five hundred years ago, and he fears he will be the last. The number of compatible females is dwindling faster than anyone anticipated. If they can't find compatible females soon, their entire civilization will cease to exist. It is the reason he agreed to meet with Liron, the Emperor of the Kaliszian Empire, in Kaliszian space. It is the only reason they had crossed paths with a Ganglian ship leaving Tornian space, and it is the only reason they discovered the small female. Wray found himself drawn to the small female he found beaten and abused on the Ganglian ship. She resembled a Tornian female but was much smaller. Could she be what he was searching for? Kim Teel had a hard life, at least she thought she had until her parents died suddenly, and her sister and brother-in-law disappeared. At nineteen, she realized she had been protected from all of life's hardships. She had been cared for and loved her entire life, and had come to expect it, she was terribly spoiled. Determined to change her ways, Kim went looking for her sister, only to be captured by the Ganglians. It was then she learned what happened to the 'unprotected' females of the universe. Wray and Kim are both doing the same thing, trying to survive. What they find is that there are more important things than just survival. Once they learn that, the universe changes forever.