"The whole structure of the cosmos could be at stake — and the focus of the danger is here on Earth," Bernice sighed. "Charity begins at home."

Kelzen, a chaotic force in the mind of an unborn twentieth-century earthling. Jirenal, intent on conquering a future society of dreamers and telepaths. Shanstra, evil incarnate — the conflicts on Gadrell Major are her sport and the tragedies of humans are her entertainment.

They are Sensopaths, their minds attuned to the collective unconscious, their power unleashed like a wild animal into the physical world. One by one, the TARDIS has located them. While Bernice faces the life-and-death struggle of a colonial war, with only a hologram of the Doctor to help her, the Doctor himself must confront the all-powerful trinity.