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| The short prologue shows an elderly cat telling this story to his daughter when her kitten cannot sleep. It is a cold winter night and the two are sitting up by a fire in the Jellicle Leader's estate, both having work there and the elderly tom having been much younger when this story actually happened... |
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| The story is told from the viewpoint of Plato: a young adult, orphaned Jellicle tom born and raised on Earth among humans, now serving as Chief Engineering Officer on a Federation starship. It is a routine way of life he enjoys until out of the blue he receives news from his human commander (Capt. Daniel Trask) that their vessel (the Quaxo) has been assigned to a mission concerning Jukard: the home planet of Plato's species to which Plato has never been. The dominant people there are the Jellicles: a passionate, artistic, aggressive culture who resemble catlike humanoids and are governed under one ruler and a strict caste system. Their mission from Starfleet is to present the Jellicle Leader (the enormous Deuteronomy) with the offer for Jukard's initiation into the Federation. When Captain Trask is invited to Jukard for a guests' honor visit, the rest of the Quaxo's crew goes on shoreleave, but at the captain's discretion Plato is reluctantly dragged along with him. |
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| At the Jellicle Leader's estate Plato is reunited with an old friend: Demeter (a slave), only to discover she has fallen in love with the heir to the Jellicle Leadership: Deuteronomy's oldest son Munkustrap. The two lovers are planning to run away and join up with the Fangs of Freedom: a group of underground radicals who have dedicated themselves to the protest of Jukard's caste system and the abolition of Jellicles slavery. Both Munkustrap and Demeter entrust Plato with this information, leaving Deuteronomy unaware. But trouble is brewing. |
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| Macavity, the bold leader of the Fangs of Freedom, is determined to dethrone the Jellicle Leader. He also sets his sights on Demeter shortly after the two runaways arrive. Naive to his evil intents, Munkustrap and Demeter assist Macavity in attacking the Jellicle Leader's estate. In the midnight attack one of the estate guards (the young spunky Pouncival) is killed, and Plato captured. Brought back to the Fangs of Freedom lair, he is released by the pleading of Demeter but none of the three are allowed to leave. Immediately suspicious of Macavity's motivations, Plato certainly realizes all is not right when he overhears Macavity speaking to his second-in-command (Admetus) about the assassination of Deuteronomy. Plato tries to tell Demeter and Munkustrap what he heard, but the two are reluctant to believe. Everything falls apart one dark night when Demeter is raped by Macavity, and Munkustrap beaten and left for dead. Munkustrap survives only because of Plato's intervention, killing Admetus in the process. It is then after regathering Demeter that the three manage to escape and return to Deuteronomy, expecting only punishment. But the Leader is kind, and welcomes them back. |
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| Trask in the meantime had notified Starfleet of the delay in the proceeding, and with the new information of the Fangs of Freedom's lair Deuteronomy immediately sets upon ways to destroy the radicals. But the underground group has severely withdrawn, and things begin to calm down. Plato stays on at Jukard as ordered while Trask returns to his starship duties, putting off for now Jukard's initiation. Over his time on Jukard, Plato had an enormous share of experiences...some good, some bad. These experiences include: Demeter's miscarried kittens that belong to Macavity, solving the mystery of Munkustrap's abandoning mother (Grizabella), witnessing the truth of a prophecy from two telepathic Jellicles (Coricopat and Tantomile), meeting a female Jellicle dancer named Cassandra that he falls in love with only to find she is part of the Fangs of Freedom after a failed assassination attempt on Deuteronomy, helping Deuteronomy's niece (Sillabub) confront her fears of mating when she is betrothed to a noble outside the family (Tumblebrutus), and being present at a slave auction (run by Growltiger and Griddlebone) when the Fangs of Freedom make their return attack. During the raid to free the slaves at the auction, Plato catches a glimpse of Macavity and the recognition between them is clear. Yet Macavity lets Plato go when given the chance to kill him, ordering him to deliver a threatening message to Munkustrap, Demeter, and Deuteronomy. |
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| Months pass without much incident, and one particular day when a majority of the young toms of Deuteronomy's estate are out on a hunting race, Macavity attacks the estate and manages to capture it, holding Deuteronomy hostage alongside his mate (Jellylorum), his brother and family (Bustopher Jones, Jennyanydots, and Sillabub-Tumblebrutus), and several other guards (Alonzo, Mistoffelees) and slaves (Etcetera) hostage. A long standoff follows, a dramatic and tense twelve hours in which Macavity discovers his own relation to Deuteronomy and when threatening to kill everyone in the estate, several Jellicles under Macavity's command (Mungojerrie, Rumpleteazer, Bombalurina, and Electra) turn against him. Victory for Macavity is impossible, and even when Munkustrap and his half-brother Tugger lead a counterattack on the estate Macavity refuses to give in. He kills Deuteronomy. After abandoning the estate to Munkustrap's rally, Macavity escapes out into the open countryside but in the end faces Plato. He chooses death over surrender, and Plato kills him. Once the carnage is cleared Munkustrap takes his place as Jellicle Leader, Demeter as his mate, and does away with the caste system and all Jellicle slavery. Plato returns to his position in Starfleet after a tearful goodbye, following through with his plans to resign. |
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| The short epilogue: the elderly tom (Skimbleshanks) tells his daughter (Victoria) he was a pilot for Deuteronomy when this happened, and it was he who transported Plato back to the starship after it was all over, and that no one has heard anything from Plato since. |
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