Lilith Awakens Gabriel Rinaldi and Beatrice Dwyer. Tate wants Lilith to Awaken more people at a time, to hasten the time till they can get back to Earth, but Lilith does not want to rush the process.

As the number of people in the group grows, there are more instances of conflict. Lilith tries to keep out of the disagreements, letting people work things out for themselves. She is unable to avoid one conflict, when a woman named Jean Pelerin physically attacks Lilith when she is told that the Oankali will not provide them with meat. Lilith quickly subdues Jean without thinking, knocking her unconscious. Once she has determined that Jean is not seriously hurt, Lilith retreats to her room. Lilith is disturbed to realize how strong she is now that Nikanj has altered her and worries that she may maim or kill someone by accident.

Joseph asks to come into her room and tells Lilith that Jean is telling people that Lilith must be a man, to have fought in the way she did. Another new person has said that Lilith must not be human. Lilith gets up to speak to the group, but Joseph stops her, saying they just need someone to focus their frustrations on.