Ira DeSoto discovers that risking his life in face to face battle, getting the living stuffing beat out of him repeatedly, outsmarting the bureaucracy and rescuing 15 frightened, traumatized, angry children from the jaws of slavery and/or death was a walk in the park compared to the job of actually taking care of them and healing the damage inflicted on them. He also quickly discovers that one just cannot stomp on the toes of organized criminals and walk away. As the Republic of Tev-Raxia becomes more and more unraveled, the very survival of himself and his family becomes mortally threatened. Eventually the balancing act between protecting and nurturing that he must maintain overwhelms him and he begins a desperate search for help. He finds it, but it comes from the most unanticipated place, in the wildest, most bizarre, unexpected, strangest, unbelievable way imaginable, and it makes him more complete than he could ever have imagined.