Tibby awakens to find himself back on the NEW ORLEANS in the medical section. He�s been told that he suffered extensive injuries in his crash on the planet Goo�Waddle and that his recovery will be slow. He lost one eye in the crash and, while a new one can be cloned, it would take time for the new eye tissue to grow before it can be implanted. Kalana is at his side, but she is still angry with him for his senseless reaction to the death of Tanden. Tibby suffers emotionally from all that has happened and is torn between his grief over the events at Goo�Waddle and his elation over the news that he and Kala are going to have a child.
Tibby is barely back on his feet, when word arrives that his home planet, Earth, has been hit by a large asteroid. Tibby rushes to Earth in the NEW ORLEANS in hopes of providing assistance, only to discover that all life above microbial level has been destroyed on the planet. Tibby is crushed. As he is about to return to Federation space, the NEW ORLEANS receives a signal from an International Earth Colony on Mars. The colony is struggling, as their supplies are diminishing and are no longer able to sustain themselves. The NEW ORLEANS rescues the colony, only to discover that there is also a Chinese colony located on the Earth�s moon. Tibby also learns that a huge war between the Chinese and many of the western nations had been taking place before the asteroid impact. The NEW ORLEANS responds to the moon to rescue the few remaining Chinese scientists that have survived under the rule of a ruthless and maniacal general, who has declared himself Emperor of the Moon. Once the Chinese have been rescued, it is learned from the colonists that the asteroid impact was not an accident; the asteroid had been deliberately guided to strike the Earth and that those responsible have been returning periodically to prepare the planet for their own colonization.
Before the NEW ORLEANS leaves Earth�s space, they are able to witness one of the enemy ships entering Earth�s orbit. Tibby and his crew are shocked to see that it is identical to the Tottalax ships that have been assisting the Brotherhood in their assaults on the Federation.