Vic Shown's plans to start a new life in the outer space colonies are violently shattered when he gets caught in the crossfire between ragtag rebels and government forces. In order to survive, Vic is forced to fight on the side of the rebels against the Theran Union's overwhelming military power. In the midst of this desperate struggle, a strange container called the Cage, which may hold the key to winning the war, is calling out with a forlorn cry that only Vic can hear: “Are you there?”

Victory is short-lived for the colonial forces on the world of Chalice when the Theran Union launches a devastating counterattack, employing its full power to stamp out the rebellion for good. In desperation, the new colonial government unleashes a plague, bringing widespread death and destruction to the imperial occupiers and its own citizens alike. Janice Runner is but one of many victims forced to wander a plague-infested wasteland as the two despotic regimes engage in a death struggle for control of Chalice. Her only hope of salvation lies with an idealistic rebel named Vic Shown and his allies in the resistance movement. But even they cannot save her from an alien voice growing inside her mind, promising her release if only she will allow it to draw out the monster that lies dormant inside her.