Who are the "Masters" of Everon? Masters of Everon, announces the brass plate on the door of the original Everon colonists' corporate headquarters. But somehow Everon resisted all their efforts; it was as if the planet itself fought against human efforts to establish a foothold. Some settlers want to return the favor, wrecking Everon's ecology in revenge, but Jef Raboni loves the great cat-like maolots of Everon, and the planet itself; he believes that settlers and planet can coexist. Now time is running out - and even the hints that Jef has uncovered are not enough to prpare him for the incomprehensible strangeness and wonder of the true Masters of Everon.