A sinister political plot is brewing on Maasart, a planet protected by the Nexus Empire.
The hidden scheme is aimed at controlling those children in line to inherit ruling positions on Maasart by mis-educating them of the true history, structure, and aims of the Empire.
It falls to Grandmother Extateira, Senior Domas and ruler of all humans on Maasart to ferret out this Fifth Column which is working against the rightful rulers, and thus undermining the government. Grandmother's suspicions lead her on a cross-country adventure with a granddaughter, young Iskandash, one of the future inheritors of the executive class on Maasart.
This disciplined convoy marches through the splendors of World Maasart, surveying its beauty and its dangers as it pushes toward the fortress of Red Lady, one of the six human "Keeps".
Here we have, in period costume, the fascinating story of a Royal's entire life on an alien world. The natives are scary enough and if your imagination is now piqued, Dear Reader, then continue on til you meet the genetically engineered technicolor hermaphrodite monsters called "Molendo-bas", who are held in stasis until invoked to mete out retribution on this planet. Have a nice trip...
