Summary

Some years after the end of The Last Persuaders, Arshel's first-hatched spawnling, Skanqwin, is rising in the heirarchy at Mautri.  He is at the Dark Purple, working toward taking the White Degree, breaking his bhirhir.  

At this point in history, the Hundred Planets has reached the limits of the size a single government can manage and Zref's sojourn outside its bounds has stirred up enemies with envious, wide eyes and much weaponry.  

Skanqwin's five younger siblings reconstruct the Wassly Crown and link it to the Crystal Crown, forging the first link in a renewal of the First Livewave Crown network.  

The Crown network gives instantaneous communication over distances that the comnet can not span except with time-lags and lost data.  

The Crown network's similarities to the comnet created by machines creates some new problems and solves others  But in the process, the discover a horror.

When Zref "destroyed" the comnet, the cohesive network which allowed the comnet to act as the "subconscious" of the Interfaces was not entirely destroyed -- as Zref had planned for it to be destroyed.  

This cohesion of thoughtforms was detached from the physical machines of the comnet and trapped, isolated on the "astral plane."  Over the years, this entity has become dominated by Zref's ghost.  Is this actually Zref himself?  Is this only a flashburned photo of his personality etched into the substratum of space-time?  

Does it matter?

This entity has obviously gone quite mad -- probably from the isolation.  

It "possesses" Skanquin  -- and the others must decide what they are dealing with, and act accordingly.  Having survived the years of The Last Persuaders, they have a very good idea what will happen if the general public discovers what's happened -- and who caused it by re-creating a Crown Network Link.  

Will the children of Khelin and Arshel be able or willing to kill their surfather, Zref? (the surparents are the bhirhir'n of the parents, and considered as beloved parents, so these 6 kren are as much Zref's children as they are Arshel's.)

Several attempts to release the entity's grip on Skanqwin fail abysmally and frightfully, and finally Skanqwin frees himself by taking the White.  

The siblings shut the Comnet Entity away, and peace reigns once more.  But now they have a much better idea of who and what they are -- and why they exist in this time as siblings.  

The End