The premise of this book is that an alien race rescues a group of humans from a nuclear war that killed all other humans and severely damaged the earth. The aliens use their technology to rehabilitate the earth, with the intention of sending some humans back there. However, they edit human physiology so that humans can now only conceive children with the aliens. Many people, the protagonist included, find the aliens disgusting and unsettling upon first meeting, having trouble even remaining in the room with them. She and other humans are coerced into relationships with the aliens, with the aliens often saying things along the lines of, "your words are saying no, but your body is saying yes." Although the humans do derive genuine pleasure from sexual relationships with the aliens, some humans label others as "whores" and homophobic slurs for these relationships. The first other adult human the protagonist meets on the aliens' ship beats and attempts to rape her. Just before, this man told the protagonist that the aliens had collected his sperm to produce children he has never met. The protagonist suggests that, since the aliens can manipulate memories, it's possible he produced children with his mother or sister and didn't know. This statement provokes him. There is an attempted rape between other humans as well.