

As a member of the Tracker society, Brickman has grown up deep underground, protected from the radiation of the blue-sky world above. Safe in the knowledge of his own brilliance, his future seems assured. Seventeen-year-old rookie wingman Steve Brickman is just about to graduate from Flight Academy. Mr Snow, supernaturally gifted wordsmith of the Mute clan M'Call, is the Plainfolk's last hope in withstanding the onslaught of the 'sand-burrower's' attacks. The Mutes' physical strength and tribal way of life is no match for the advanced weaponry that is used against them. A long war for possession of the overground has killed and enslaved many of the Mutes, leaving only the Plainfolk to resist the Federation. Hundreds of years after civilisation has been destroyed by nuclear war, the Earth is divided between the Trackers of the Amtrak Federation – a community living in vast subterranean cities – and the Mutes, who have evolved to withstand the radiation that has driven their foes underground.
