The human inhabitants of the City of Steel Angels – called the Children of Bakkalon – are taking over land by destroying the Jaenshi worship pyramids, driving them away. Arik neKrol, a trader, collects Jaenshi artwork for Ryther to resell to art collectors on other planets. Ryther leaves two lasers for neKrol to teach the Jaenshi to fight. NeKrol visits the waterfall Jaenshi clan to gather art. They refuse the weapons, saying their god will speak to the Steel Angels. NeKrol recruits a Jaenshi, the bitter speaker, whose clan was attacked when she was a child, along with five others to be trained. All the clans had refused weapons. The Angel Proctor has visions in the church, seeing Bakkalon walking among the “soulless.” In neKrol’s living quarters, the bitter speaker says there are no stories about their gods, or maybe they were only told to the carvers of statues. A Steel Angel comes back to the city from an attack saying a miracle had occurred: as the pyramid broke from a blast, a statue of Bakkalon became apparent. One Steel Angel speaks up in doubt, wondering if neKrol had taught the Jaenshi the god’s likeness. The rest of the leadership dismisses the possibility, saying neKrol could not have reached such a distant clan. The bitter speaker gets impatient of inaction and has heard that the Steel Angels march against a grouping of 500 Jaenshi. She leaves with the other exiled Jaenshi. neKrol follows them. The Steel Angels arrive, and the Jaenshi step away from the worship pyramid, which has turned transparent to reveal an image of Bakkalon. A stunned moment is followed by the bitter speaker firing at a Steel Angel leader. The soldiers start slaughtering the Jaenshi and neKrol is killed. Ryther comes back and says the Jaenshi statues neKrol had gathered were worthless and not real Jaenshi art. She finds the Steel Angels fanatically burning their winter reserves and hanging Angel children on their walls.