Once, on a world called Kesrith, Sten Duncan had considered himself human. But that was just after the war with the regul...a war that had pitted mankind against a race of fierce, supremely skilled mercenaries who'd fought on the regul's behalf for 40 years: the mri. Kutath proved to be an arid, wind-swept wilderness, tolerable to Nium and Melein, torturous to Duncan. The native mri still lived the the ancient laws, and the strangers from Kesrith were able to win one tribe's loyalty - if not its affection. But their strength was sorely limited, and Melein knew they would need help to endure the days ahead.