TARVARAS - a barren, harsh land, scorched by an unforgiving sun. A land dominated by the Yek, a quarrelsome race, bred for war. And the Yek are about to wage war again, on the Alan, one of the few peoples not subject to their rule.

Admiral Rostov of the Imperial Navy, on a routine survey mission, suddenly finds himself marooned on this strange world, the prisoner of Burun Khan, one of the Yek warlords. Rostov quickly realizes that he has little choice: become a slave or be trained as a soldier of the Yek and learn their language, laws and ways.