Earl was in space bound for Selegal. He had been with the shop for several journeys between planets and was not sure that
he would disembark on Selegal. Also on the ship are the irascible Captain Seleem, Officer Karn, Officer Grog, the steward, the handler, Harg Branst who ran the salon table, young foppish Ilgazt Bitola, the ghenka singer Mayenne, Chom Roma the merchant who rode at Zelleth, Eisach Daroca the elderly dilettante traveller, the spoiled Lady Lolis Egola heading for her wedding with Alora Motril at Ayette, Lolis’ Amazon bodyguard Hera, rich brothel madam Mari Analoch, the strange emotionless Vekta Gorlyk and the engineer Qualish brothers.
Earl was enjoying a performance of Mayenne when Chom sought him to meet Daroca who he said might know something of Earth. Daroca did not have direct knowledge but thought he might be able to help Earl reason it out. Lolis, bored and wanting a quick ship board affair set her sights on Earl who rejected her. Angry she went with Bitola and Hera to the hold to look at an exotic beast Saleem was transporting. The beast had escaped and killed Bitola and Hera. Only Lolis escaped. Karn and Earl went with the other ship personnel and they tried to contain the beast. It killed Grog, the steward and the handler and injured Saleem. Then it destroyed their generator killing itself as well.
The Erhaft field down, they drifted hopelessly in interstellar space. Earl joined the crew repairing the damage to the cargo hold and generator and destroying the beast’s eggs . Mayenne sang a beautiful elegy into her radio transmitter into empty space.
Lolis refused to help the others with the work which angered Mari. Lolis thought Earl was in love with her but Mari corrected her. Earl and Gorlyk argued about the importance of
emotion and reason. Earl was then called to the control room where an answer to Mayenne’s earlier song broadcast was heard. Earl had Mayenne broadcast her song again and then something took the ship and brought it to a planet where they landed.
The ship landed in a valley with normal liveable conditions. Karn went on the radio and demanded to know why they had been brought there. A voice explained that they had been there by a planetary being,
Tormyle (Remember Star Trek TOS with Ephraim Cochran, warp drive inventor, stranded on a sentient planet?). Around the ship was beautiful plant life resembling a garden. Tormyle sealed them outside the ship. Gorlyk insisted on being spokesperson but when Earl asked a question to Tormyle Gorlyk became angry. Not understanding emotion, Tormyle took Gorlyk and analysed him, destroying him. To be thorough, Tormyle took Lolis as well. Then Tormyle manifested as an ogre-like creature and asked them what were luck and love.
Earl explained that you had to experience them to know what they were.
Tormyle said the prime human directive was “survival” and made Earl fight and kill the ogre. The next day Tormyle appeared as Lolis and tried to convince them it was her. Earl recognized her as Tormyle. She offered each a chance to try their luck with the reward of escape. Harg tried a game of cards, lost and died. Then Tormyle took Mari, Karn, Tek Qualish and Mayenne and disappeared. The next day she said to Chom, Earl and Daroca that their missing comrades were at the end of the earth-like valley and that they had to win through to save them. Meeting obstacles Earl backtracked and led the others around by the edge of the valley. Tormyle opened a chasm driving them to the cliffs. They climbed to the top and looking back found that Tormyle had created a medieval castle.
Earl was made to issue challenge. He fought with a slingshot and killed an armoured knight riding on a dragon-like lizard. Then the castle disappeared and a pit appeared with two cages, one containing Mayenne and Karn, the other Mari and Tek. Earl had to choose within 2 hours which cage would be emptied into the pit. He proposed to call Tormyle’s bluff but Sac, to save Tek, made a break for the level controlling the drop. Chom shot him with an arrow and he fell saving Mayenne and Karn. For a while they stayed in a house and Earl and Mayenne were alone but Tormyle took Earl away and tried to persuade him to stay with her. Earl rejected her so she put them all in a small enclosure and forced Earl to demonstrate the 15 units of the Cyclan’s affinity twin. She meant to use this to take Mayenne’s body. Earl still refused so Tormyle showed him each of his friends as they really were – Chom discussing, Karn regimented and Daroca and Mayenne – agents of the Cyclan. Earl killed Daroca and Mayenne killed herself insisting to Earl she had come to love him. Earl finally told Tormyle that he pitied her and in her comprehension of this she send Chom and Karn back with the ship and sent Earl far away to a desert planet where he was found by the inhabitants, safe for the time being from the Cyclan and free to continue his quest for earth.
This is one of the more dialogue intensive and slower Dumarest novels. There are parallels to advanced-alien-life-contact scenarios in Star Trek TOS. Also, Mr. Tubb never named the ship.