A fast-paced story describing the reaction of world citizens to the realization that Earth is dying from the constant abuse it has endured from humans. The story's primary focus centers on the United States and its plan to cope with a sick and dying population and a way to protect future humans from extinction. Project EG begins with Phase One of its plan, allowing only healthy women to donate their newborn infants to the Project. These infants are labeled EGYs and are admitted into underground domiciles, which offer a protective environment, receiving expert care by a programmed robotic workforce. The domiciles function to grow foodstuffs, to reproduce more EGYs, and to educate selected EGYs to live in a Martian settlement. In its sixteenth year of operation, Phase Two of Project EG appoints human professionals in good health to serve as domicile directors-an ecologist, a neuropsychologist, and a humanitarian are given the task to select the best EGYs for the transhumance to the Martian settlement. Since birth, Project EG has controlled and indoctrinated the now-sixteen-year-old EGY candidates to believe that there is a future for them in the settlement built by a robotic workforce on Mars. After the domicile directors are well established in their task, Project EG issues a surprise announcement that the Planet Ship's manifest to Mars includes the selected EGYs, as well as some unexpected passengers.