A tense courtroom drama finds an alien named Sendrhea, a Tereskadian, accused of scratching a college student named Lana Northwood. It seems an open-and-shut case until we gradually learn there is more to Sendrhea and her whistling dragon Fharezan. Sendrhea tells the judge that she will represent herself because as she says, ' Tereskadian do not allow anyone to speak for them. We are capable of speaking for ourselves without any help.' What Sendrhea has in mind is one very important question that Lana may not be able to answer.