How do children deal with the breakdown of the world they live in? And will Nestor Tark's compassion for them destroy his own family's happiness? In the Sevolite Empire, your quality of life is determined by your genetic make-up, so it's tempting to twist the rules forbidding genetic engineering in your favor - even if the punishment for getting caught is death for all your descendants. On the planet Monitum, the Ald'erda children are left orphaned and forced to flee their homes when their father's ambition throws the entire planet into chaos - right after Nestor decides to move in. Blessed with special genetic gifts, the children are branded as criminals. Olivia, the oldest, struggles to keep her family together as she leads the hunted refugees like herself. Voltan, the youngest, teeters on the brink of insanity as his modified mind can't stop looking for answers. Their brother, Pleo, gives into rage and seeks revenge for his family, but his plans might not be all his own. These young sparrows need Nestor's help to survive, but at what cost to his own wife and child? And beyond mere survival, can any of them find a place for themselves in a society that despises them as catalysts of chaos?