For sixteen years, Del Whitby lived quietly among the pious farmers of the planet Gilead, in a society bypassed by 27th century progress. Then, on the eve of his sixteenth birthday, he was kidnapped by a band of Daltrescan slave traders, and sold to a gladiatorial school on Tarquin VII. After a series of excruciatingly close encounters, Del proves his prowess in the arena, and is awarded his freedom, and a spaceship. He now begins the perilous voyage home to distant Gilead, a trek which will take him to the outermost reaches of the galaxies and back.