jack and dorothea manage to halt the rebel fleet, thanks to their ability to conjoin the powers of all the pro-milieu operant humans. but these two and paul die as a result. many of the rebels are also killed when their ces overload, and marc and a number of the leaders are badly hurt. the deaths of the people of okanagon, however, propel humanity into the state of mental co-ordination (called "coadunation") which is the precursor to a benevolent joining of minds across the galaxy which the member races of the milieu refer to as unity.