"There were originally seven crew members aboard the Astarte . . ."The moment they are extracted from their splashdown capsule, Indigo and Staley become heroes of the Peoples Republic of Gaiastan. Their minds are immediately downloaded and tested, and when they are deemed mentally fit, they are sent out by train on a whirlwind national triumph. The final whistle stop finds them in a remote village situated beyond the cannibals of the Dehumanized Zone and the all seeing eye of Motherland Security. It is there, among the undermen, that they come to terms with the disaster of their Mars mission. They experience an awakening and a counter-revolution begins.