Taking advantage of resentments that fester among the lower social strata of the neo-chimp population (those with limited rights to breed), the aliens subvert some of the neo-chimps in and around Port Helenia, the capital city. A large group in the mountains, led by Robert Oneagle, son of planetary coordinator Megan Oneagle, and Athaclena, the teenaged daughter of Tymbrimi ambassador Uthacalthing, engage in guerrilla warfare. Their combination of "wolfling" ingenuity and galactic diplomacy allow them to inflict significant damage, both psychological and physical, on the Gubru. Fiben Bolger, in town on a fact-finding expedition for the Resistance, runs afoul of one of the conspirator neo-chimpanzees known as Irongrip.