Beatha is a headmistress at a female college in Africa. In this era, post Great Aggression, her country is very technologically advanced. So when a foreign object washes up on their shore, she and the dean of the male college rush to investigate it. It is discovered that the object is a dock from a far away land, and it brought with it invasive species of barnacles and other organisms that threaten to disrupt their eco-system. Worse yet, some days later a huge amount of corpses wash ashore next. They discover that there is some sort of pulse in the ocean that can be causing this. Initially, the dean of the male college is put in charge by the Queen of flying out to sea on a balloon to find the cause. But he gets lost, and Beatha and her team of scientists and students are second choice. Beatha and seven students are sent on a small boat to investigate the pulse. Beatha suspects that the source of it is Prince Cophetua, a disgraced scientist who's tribe was destroyed in part by the Queen. She was proved right when they were captured by the prince, who in his exile had gone mad. He wants to take over the world, which does not go over well with the rest of the world. Prince Cophetua's boat is attacked, and he, Beatha, and her crew are trapped. Cophetua refuses to surrender, meaning certain death for all of them. Two of Beatha's crew are in love, Boong Do and Eala, but Cophetua is in love with Eala, so he throws Boong Do into the sea. Eventually, they get to land, but are still in danger. After Cophetua forces himself on Eala, she slits her wrists out of grief. Cophetua demands that Beatha bring her back to life. When Beatha is obviously unable to do that, Cophetua tells Beatha that he will bury her alive. Beatha prepares to live underground forever.