Man had discovered a means of colonizing the galaxy. Men and machines could be sent light years away in seconds. But men were not the only beings in the galaxy with expanding aims. At 200 light years from earth, the alien Gershmi people made their motives clear with guns. In the grip of an even more sinister power, the earthmen, their will to fight removed, were walking with flags of truce straight into Gershmi fire. Spaceman David Ward combats the mysterious disappearances of his colleagues, the anxieties of beautiful women, the perilous realms of space and the ruthless power of the Gershmi in this never-let-up story of man's colonization of the galaxy.