In thirty years, the invincible Eqbas will arrive at Earth to forcibly return the planet to what it once wasas retribution, in part, for the gethes' thoughtless near-extermination of an alien ocean-dwelling species. First, however, another world requires their attention: the crowded, ecologically ravaged planet of the swarming, insect-like isenj. Efforts to drastically reduce the isenj population ...