Ellis Hagan, born on Earth but banished to Mars and told never to return by his father Elias Hagan, Commander of Kama, for the accidental killing of a Firewing, hears that his father supposedly has been killed by a Firewing, and knows it is a lie. His father had been a friend and protecter of the indigenous tribes and refused to let the new colonists spread into the Firewing territory. When the scholars of Xanthe University who are in charge of sending settlers to Earth ask him to go back and discover the truth of his father's death he refuses until it becomes apparent that he himself, even on Mars, as the Commander's son, is also in danger. His return to the Colony of Norcanna reveals both old fears and new struggles and reconciliation with the past.