After countless years of fighting - of pitting sophistticated technology against the primitive surface-dwelling people who seemed to possess supernatural powers - the Federation was still no nearer to ending the battle with the Mutes. But then a lone flier was hauled into one of its underground bunkers - a man whose very existence was a challenge to the all-pervading wisdom of the First Family. A man whose destiny would determine the future for both the Federation and the Mutes...