Targovi III

The Patrician System is far from Terra on the Merseian marches although not in the same sector as Dennitza;

Daedalus has been settled by human beings, Cynthians and Donarrians;

Imhotep has been settled by human beings and by evacuated members of the two Starkadian species;

other species pass through the system, including Shalmuans, Irumclagians and even a Wodenite;

the Terran Empire is threatened not only by Merseians but also by criminals, dissidents and ambitious would-be usurpers;

to hold this sector, the Navy must police its own base planet, Daedalus;

both Terra and Merseia employ agents of other species;

Targovi the Tigery trader wins the confidence of colonists who believe that he bought his spaceship out of gains made by storming an Imhotepan pirate stronghold;

from his trading van, Targovi radios Captain Jerrold Ronan, Head of Terran Naval Intelligence in the Patrician System;

they speak through sealed circuits and encoding programs;

Targovi has detected all the signs that Admiral Magnusson is about to rebel and Ronan, who is obviously a party to Magnusson's plot, must tell him to desist!

Targovi must now make a political decision. He could simply obey an order from his superior. But he prefers to perform a deed that will get him noticed on Terra. Like Diana Crowfeather, Targovi hopes to leave Patricius. Her hope is in Axor's quest. Targovi must seize the opportunity offered by the troubled times in which they live.