So the Ulleran challenge begins, with the rantings of a prophet and a seemingly incidental street riot. Only when a dose of poison lands in the governer-general's whiskey does it become clear that the "geeks" have had it up their double-lidded eyeballs with the imperialist Terran Federation's Chartered Uller Company. Then, overnight, war is everywhere.

How it will end is in the merely two Terran hands of the new governor-general, a man shredw enough to know that "it is easier to banish a habit of thought than a piece of knowledge". The problem is, the particular piece of knowledge he needs hasn't been used in 450 years.