A hostile alien spaceship vaporizes a weather station in outer space without warning, and lands on the planet Akir. There, its captain and leader, Sador of the Malmori, announces his plan to conquer Akir and its inhabitants. Sador possesses a powerful weapon called a “stellar converter” that will destroy anyone who crosses him. To make his point, Sador randomly kills many Akir citizens. He promises to return in seven days, and sends his guards, Kalo and Tembo, to keep watch over Akir and its citizens. At an Akiran council meeting, members agree that its citizens have observed a code of non-violence for centuries and are not capable of stopping an invasion. The only way to survive is to hire mercenaries to defeat Sador. Shad offers to search for them, and is instructed to meet a weapons expert named Dr. Hephaestus. Kalo and Tembo see Shad’s ship leave the planet, and attempt to destroy it. When Shad evades their fire, the men return to Akir to stand guard for fear of disobeying Sador’s orders. Shad lands at the doctor’s station, and boards a people mover that immobilizes him in neck and wrist restraints. He is then delivered to the workshop of Nanelia, Hephaestus’ daughter. There, she interrogates him about his intentions, and arranges for Shad to meet her father. Hephaestus tells Shad that Akir is doomed, but he is welcome to stay and breed with Nanelia. Shad soon persuades Nanelia that a wonderful world exists beyond her father’s station. He boards his ship, after stealing some weapons, and Nanelia follows in a smaller craft. Soon, Shad gets some target practice when he saves a mercenary space traveler named “Cowboy” from being killed by hostile forces. Cowboy informs Shad that Sador has never lost a war, and they watch as Sador’s stellar converter destroys the planet, Omatil. Cowboy, who had planned to deliver an arsenal of hand weapons to the planet, offers to sell the shipment to Shad, who agrees to buy the weapons. Since Shad saved Cowboy’s life, Cowboy agrees to train the citizens of Akir. When Nanelia is knocked out by an asteroid storm, an alien ship captures her ship and takes her hostage. As she awakens, Nanelia learns she is aboard a Zymer ship, operated by a race of aliens that eat humans. The alien then introduces her to two Kelvin crewmates, who communicate by degrees of heat. At first, the alien thinks Nanelia might fetch a good price at the right market, but when she explains she is on a mission to fight Sador, he is familiar with Sador’s tyranny, and agrees to help her destroy him. Nell, the operating system on Shad’s ship, announces that the craft is being drawn into the magnetic net of an alien ship. Since his vessel is not powerful enough to resist, Shad is captured. Aboard the strange craft, he meets a group of pale alien clones known as Nestors. Nestor #1 admits that it would be an adventure to be a mercenary. He
reveals that he has read Shad’s mind, and would like to fight in the war against Sador. He explains that all Nestors in the universe share the consciousness of the original Nestor, which makes life boring. Back on the ship, Nell informs Shad that the city of Askasta is the place to recruit other mercenaries. In his search on Askasta, Shad is almost killed by Gelt, as he plays with a vending machine. Gelt tells Shad that only he and a few others have survived because their planet was considered a threat and decimated by an interplanetary army. Since there is a bounty on Gelt’s head in most parts of the galaxy, he decides that fighting for Akir will give him a place to hide, and he joins Shad’s cause. The reptilian Cayman, another mercenary from the Lambda Zone, also joins them. Later, Sador’s guards see the fleet of ships, when Gelt attacks and kills the men. On Akir, Nanelia briefs the mercenaries and says they have five ships, while Sador has twenty-five. Their only hope is to destroy his stellar converter. To activate the weapon, Sador’s ship has to lower its force field, and that is when it is most vulnerable. Meanwhile, Sador refuses to believe anyone associated with Akir could wipe out Kalo and Tembo. On Akir, Nanelia’s warning system alerts Shad of Sador’s imminent return. Shad orders everyone to their battle stations. The mercenaries take turn attacking Sador’s space ship and smaller star fighters. Soon, Gelt is fatally wounded when his craft crashes and explodes. When Sador’s forces land on Akir, Cowboy and other Akirans defend themselves with handguns. Sador uses loud sonic frequencies to prevent the mercenaries from advancing. The Kelvins vaporize several soldiers then collapse. Meanwhile, Shad tends to the wounded, while Nanelia persuades him to let her join the battle. He admits that he is terrified, and they kiss. On his ship, Sador gives the order for a full-scale attack. The mercenaries counterattack, but soon the Nestor ship is hit. Next, Sador orders his soldiers to ready the stellar converter. However, a mercenary named St. Examin ejects from her craft, which plows into the converter, damaging the weapon. Sador gives the order to retreat, but Cayman taunts him to finish the fight. Meanwhile, Cowboy joins the battle and makes some strategic shots before his ship is destroyed. Shad responds with a series of attacks until his ship is struck, wiping out Nell’s memory banks. As Shad switches the ship’s controls to manual, Sador gives the order to capture Shad’s ship. Sador’s tractor beams pull Shad’s ship toward the enemy, and Shad reverses thrusters and programs his ship to destruct. Shad and Nanelia escape on a pod transport, while the explosion from his ship rips through Sador’s vessel and blows it apart. As Nanelia and Shad hug and rejoice at their victory, they agree that they will keep the memory of the mercenaries alive.