Humanity has united under an oppressive theocracy, and is spreading through the galaxy, leaving death, destruction and misery in its path. Alien races are invaded, conquered and either converted, or exterminated. Steve Cook, a gifted linguist who hates how his race is treating the aliens, is forced to serve aboard a human military craft as they start their attack on their latest victims, a marsupial race humans call Chipmunks. The Chipmunks, their true species named the Pileeta, are a race of gentle and intelligent beings. They embrace the principles of science, and are unable to believe in...