Timm Bruce is the son of a farmer on a small agricultural planet, who escapes boredom and his father's control by enlisting in the Space marines. Soon he finds himself fighting the alien TRILL in space, and then again on a contested planet. Newly promoted, he is sent to arrest or kill members of the Vuorran race. He does his duty, until one young woman is able to steal his heart and remove his military conditioning. Able to again think for himself, he disobeys his orders and rescues the young woman and her baby from the clutches of the evil emperor. Safe on a secret Vuorran haven world, he finds himself appointed as military commander of the tiny Vuorran forces. His strategic brilliance gives the Vuorrans some slight hope, as his ragtag forces strikes several blows against the giant human empire. With the arrival of a powerful alien race into human-occupied space, it appears that the Vurroans might have a chance to survive!