A party for the new elite is in full swing at pro-Taelon Senator Edward Gale's posh Washington home when his daughter, Eva appears with a gun. She fires, wounding him in the arm before his security guards can subdue her.

The next day, Liam Kincaid and Renee Palmer meet with a holographic messenger sent by Hubble Urick. He informs them of the shooting and tells them Eva is in the hospital, having tested positive for Kryss, a substance used by Taelons in small quantities to help them adapt to Earth's atmosphere. Liam is surprised and angry, as the Taelons' Kryss facility was shut down eight months before and the Taelons swore they found a way to synthesize Kryss without enslaving humans. Yet Eva, whom the messenger tells them disappeared three weeks before to take part in an archeological dig, must have been enslaved in a Kryss factory to have traces of the substance in her bloodstream. Liam and Renee must prove the factory is still operating.