Patrol Officer Nathan Olsen's work is risky enough patrolling the desert around the Earth colony of Rasand, as he is in a perpetual war with the creatures he calls Morlocks, named after the tunnel dwellers in the classic H. G. Wells story. But then the discovery of a ruined city draws the attention of Rasand City's glamorous chancellor, who wants to be taken to the site, with both unaware that the city holds the key to the origin of the Morlocks.