What do you do when much of what you've built up over the last five years is suddenly destroyed in an earthquake?

With their home gone, Pirrul's desire for another baby must go on the back burner. Who's in charge? Eiric thinks it should be him. What do they do with a dead body? Nobody in this community of young people has a clue, and they are all reeling with shock. And where are they all going to sleep?

Five years earlier, this intrepid group of teens set out from the human colony on the planet they call Imagine, to build their own self-sufficient community. But even with the help of the friendly, furry alien Climbers, and the telepathic Pankun trees, they are still dependent on the main colony for some things.

However when they turn to them for help, they find the main colony has also suffered loss, and the new leadership there is not friendly. Tensions are building and the Colonists are organizing against the Officers. Can the humans learn to work together in order to survive?