Summary

Lilith is placed in a large building whose walls she is able to manipulate into new orientations but which she is not allowed to leave until she has successfully prepared forty human beings for interaction with the Oankali. She resolves to teach them that they should accept everything the Oankali offer until they are back on Earth, at which place they may be able to escape. After going through the dossiers of several sleeping humans, Lilith selects a woman named Tate Marah as the first one to awaken.

After Tate awakens, her initial panic subsides into an easy normalcy. She asks Lilith to feed her and they commiserate about their captivity. Tate calls Lilith a “trustee” of their captors and wants to know why Lilith has been selected by them. Lilith explains that their captors are extraterrestrials. Tate does not know...