Offered sanctuary and a position of honor on the planet Albagens by his alien ally, Korkal, Jim declines both. He knows that he must take his destiny into his own hands, no matter what the cost.

On a planet where life itself is for sale, Jim becomes a mercenary, a warrior for hire to the highest bidder. There, in an unforgiving campaign of planetary conquest, Jim assumes for the first time the imperatives of command, and learns the first an dmost difficult lesson of his career. Amidst the horrifying brutality of high-vacuum war, he discovers which side he is really on.