In the far future, the benign Galactic Empire imposes a Pax Galactica over thousands of worlds in the core of the galaxy. Beyond the imperial frontier, several cargo ships and a group of Imperial scientists investigating the ruins of an ancient high-tech civilization have gone missing. Imperial Ranger Lance Bryant and his partner are ordered to investigate. They enter orbit around a planet rumored to be in revolt against its tyrannical ruler, Count Charon. Damaged by a hidden orbital minefield, they abandon ship only seconds before it is destroyed. Marooned on the surface, Bryant meets Lieutenant Aya, commander of a also marooned mercenary regiment's artillery, an attractive but bitter woman working in what she considers a man's world. Only by working together and overcoming numerous obstacles along the way can they escape and prevent the deaths of millions. They set out after Count Charon to get the disarm code for the minefield. In a desperate race to prevent a war that would kill billions, they must escape cannibals, space pirates, angry asteroid miners, a deadly hallucinogenic, a giant sandwurm, a firing squad, and the Questioner's flensing beams in the Dungeon of Doom. Can the imperial scientists be rescued, the space pirates defeated, evil Count Charon's diabolical plan thwarted, and the people of the Cannibal Planet delivered from a fate worse than death? Find out!