The earth had been captured by The Invaders. A generation later, Michael Wireman had come back from the Centaurian colony...and found very little that he expected. For one thing, most Earthmen were perfectly contended. The fighting was between factions of outlaw Earthmen, hidden in the mountains, barely taken note of by the invaders. And Wireman found he didn't like the outlaws. Could he become assimilated by the tame Earthmen? Could he, in other words, surrender?