"Communipaths" are powerful telepaths who are used in the faster-than-light communication system employed by the government of the Three Galaxies. Once identified, the new-born is taken from the mother and raised by the authorities. On the planet Iris, the mother of a particularly powerful baby resists and Coyote Jones is sent to get the child. Later when the mother starts to use her own abilities to try and recover the baby, Jones is sent to arrest her. He has objections.