(initially called "ultrasensing") to locate hidden weapons becomes geopolitically important. Finally, Redaction provides the ability for mental healing, or can be abused for mental damage. Dorothea MacDonald has very strong redactive powers. These five mental powers can be latent, meaning that, while present, they cannot be consciously used. On the other hand, operant powers are available for conscious, controlled use. Powers can also be suboperant, which means they can only be used unpredictably and are often inaccessible. Treatment by operants can sometimes raise suboperant mindpowers to operancy. Higher capabilities within operancy include Master, Grand Master, and Paramount Grand Master levels. Jack, Marc, and Dorothea are all (eventually) Paramounts. Julian May describes collaborative as well as individual mental powers. A metaconcert is a synchronized use of mental powers by more than one person, in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, as when Jack and Dorothea tackle the geological problems of Caledonia. The ultimate extension of such collaboration is the mental Unity which the Lylmik are fostering in the galaxy. Plots of the novels Intervention The book follows the Remillard family of New Hampshire from the years immediately after World War II through an increasingly turbulent world, in which various "metapsychic" humans manoeuvre in secret to direct the destiny of the human race. The Remillards play a central role in this story, though the narrator, Rogatien "Uncle Rogi" Remillard, is often an alienated observer rather than a central participant. At the same time, the earth is under surveillance by representatives of a galactic culture (the "Galactic Milieu" of the series title), who monitor the human race's fitness for admission into the wider galactic community. Interwoven with this narrative are glimpses of the time after the main action of the series, drawing together threads from it and the Pliocene Exile series. Intervention climaxes with the Great Intervention, the revelation of this wider galactic society. This sets the stage for the more focused story May has to tell in the remainder of the series. This deals with the history of several family lines with strong metapsychic potential, especially the Remillards. This line begins with twins Rogatien (Rogi) and Donatien (Don), whose mother died giving birth to them. They discover that they have unusual mental abilities (which admittedly turn out to be far less than those of later generations of metapsychics). Rogi is a milder mannered man, who becomes sterile