Terl is the Psychlo security chief on a planet without insecurities—Earth.

It had been a gut blow to Terl when he was ordered to Earth. He was only 39 when he was appointed and he'd just received word that his tour of duty had been extended—with no mention of relief.

Terrified at the vision of a 190-year-old Terl tottering around on this same planet, he realizes that such questionable fates require action—big action. And that is just what Terl does, devising a plan to get himself back to his home planet—a wealthy Psychlo.

To succeed, he must find and teach humans to run Psychlo mining equipment under the guise of cutting down personnel costs while preventing the head of the planet and the other Psychlos at the minesite from discovering his true motives.

Setting things in motion, Terl captures the human Jonnie Goodboy Tyler, forcing him to lead other humans in the mining project—and to keep him in check he imprisons his girlfriend, Chrissie, and her younger sister, Pattie, keeping them locked in a cage, under threat of death if Jonnie does not cooperate.

Fully versed in the arts of deception, Terl uses every means of extortion, blackmail and villainy he needs to push forward his plans of personal wealth and power.

But unbeknownst to Terl, he has set in motion actions that will affect the entire galaxy—and made a deadly enemy of the only man who would ever really be a threat to him—Jonnie Goodboy Tyler.