The elders who had left the Valley through the wormhole find themselves in a hot desert environment. No discernable sky, no vegetation, no water. They explore the area and discover they are in a large cell. Those that had been killed or wounded start disappearing. Ari-Ana confesses everything. Enela comes face to face with their captors. She succeeds in convincing them to provide the Elders with the necessary water. In preparing for an autopsy of a dead Elder the captors helpers let loose ravenous bacteria that infect almost all of the local population. In time the infection begins to spread throughout the alien society. Before their captor dies, he gives Enela the key to their cage and frees them. The elders find themselves on a small island on which they also discover a Gray scout ship, such as the one in the cave back on Earth. An alien arrives with an ultimatum that the elders leave the island, but are put off by Enela and a small show of force. The Elders want to use the alien ship to generate a wormhole back to Earth, but lack the necessary coordinates. The alien leader returns with an absolute ultimatum: the Elders must leave the island, or else. Enela is faced with a scant two days to establish a wormhole that will take the Elders back to Earth. But what surprise will Enela find if she does get back to Earth? Enjoy the thrilling conclusion to the Elder Chronicles.