Jony's mother and father were captured by the Zhalan and carried off their home planet and into space, caged like livestock and powerless to resist the might of the giant captors. The father, Bron, was killed by the Zhalan and Jony's mom, Rutee, was left alone in her cage, where she gave birth to their son, Jony. The Zhalan used mind control to force their captives to do as they wanted them to. But both Rutee and Jony are able to resist the mind control and manage to escape the Zhalan slave ship when it is on a planet, gathering specimens to add to their cages.
Rutee is heavily pregnant and begins to go into labor once she and Jony are free from the slave ship. The two humans are found by a local person who helps Rutee and cares for the two infants that soon arrive. The local is a large bearlike being who is the member of a small clan who take Rutee and Jony into their homes.
Many years later, Rutee has since passed on and Jony, with the help of the clan, is taking care of his younger brother and sister, Geogee and Maba. Rutee has been exploring a the ruins of a city that was possibly settled by humans millennia ago. It is full of strange and dangerous tech. When the bear people find out he was in the ruins, they exile him from the clan, much to his distress. But when a space ship lands nearby and his siblings are taken into the ship, along with two of the bear people, it is up to Rutee to rescue them. This space ship is not one of the Zhalan slave ships and its crew is humans just like Rutee and they welcome him and the his two siblings. But Rutee is outraged when he finds his two bear friends, shackled and caged like animals and he turns against his human rescuers.
This was quite an interesting story. Rutee makes a lot of mistakes, especially in his handling of his young brother and sister. But he tries to make amends for his errors and protect not only his siblings but the bear people to whom he owes everything.
Here is a review by Kirkus Reviews.
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