Sarah has been a master of the service industry most of her life. When she wakes on Imrahl, she is assigned to a position in a teashop with extra privileges as a courier. Six months of steady events go by, and then, her best friend and boss has a moment of evolution and lashes out.

Sarah wakes in the med centre and the minor empathy that had aided her all her life is now full-blow telepathy, and her mind is in danger.

Lekorh the Saya-Rrassic is the telepath of the colony, and he takes her under his care and, eventually, into his bed. She should have seen him coming, but she is a telepath, not a psychic.