An origin story of Julian May’s Galactic Milieu Trilogy and a link to her Saga of Pliocene Exile—“a superb piece of speculative fiction” (Library Journal).
 
They have always been among us—the telepaths, the persons possessing higher mind-powers that have been called “metapsychic”—but they have always been few and far between and their abilities weak or erratic. Until now...

The 21st century was drawing to a close, and metapsychic humankind was poised at last to achieve Unity — to be admitted into the group mind of the already unified alien races of the Galactic Milieu. But a growing corps of rebels was plotting to keep the people of Earth forever separate in the name of human individuality. And the rebels had a secret supporter: Fury, the insane metapsychic creatrue that would stop at nothing to claim humanity for...