Imagine a world where creatures communicate by scent and taste as much as sound and sight, where meaning lives in every rock and stream, and every breeze brings a new voice…

A pair of linked novellas introduces us to the planet Kaa and its alien inhabitants. From the viewpoint of a remarkable alien, Dleef, we witness a world alive with sensation and emotion; and we meet a Human explorer, Treyl, who is witness to a powerful and profound transformation. For on Kaa, consciousness and sapience are new experiences -- and Treyl is present at nothing less than the birth of intelligence and culture on Kaa.

Sixty years later, with the Human galaxy convulsed in war, Kaa's fragile and beautiful society is menaced by the arrival of a notorious war criminal. Standing in his way is Captain Le Galvao of the Terran Empire. But Le is opposed by the Human inhabitants of Kaa. For in the depths of the forest, a secret project is underway, a project that could alter the future of Humanity…