Essef - The Martians came to Earth 30,000 years ago, exiles from their dying planet. Seeing that human society of that time was not ready for contact with another race, they built their new homes underground and undersea, to wait for that time when humanity will grow up. They send out Observers to monitor what is happening, and occasionally help direct humans towards a more civilized, ethical society. But eventually some of them grow tired of waiting for humanity (and perhaps because one of their undersea cities was located at Bikini island), and decide to try another plan: wipe humanity out so they can take over the Earth for themselves. The conflict between one of these Abdicators and an Observer forms the upper level conflict of this novel.