**Iona:** daughter of a brilliant father who changed the Earth's weather and a martyred mother who led rebels against the despotic Gaia-Dome theocrats. Reared in secret by a hermit, she crosses the dead zone to seek out the destiny her parents planned for her years before. **Kull:** son of slaves, privileged ward of a Dome ruler, reluctant solo seafarer to troubled shores, and guerilla tactician. Together, they gather a force of ragtag, battle-weary rebels who are determined to wrest their freedom from a corrupt and totalitarian Gaia clergy and bring a ravaged planet back to life.