A man does not step into the same river twice. He never goes through the same door. To Kurt Yardley, this is amply borne out by the train of circumstance which follows the forced landing of his freighter Charib on the bleakly inhospitable plains of an unlisted planet. Life has evolved without a familiar organic base and is ready to defend itself against the encroachment of another species. Its very structure could bring unimaginable wealth to metal-hungry cultures and there are those on Charib who are prepared to sidestep the Inter Galactic Code of consideration for all forms of life in pursuit of personal gain. Yardley, fighting for survival on two fronts, faces his personal moment of truth in a confrontation which takes him to the threshold of destruction. In Asia Vance, a blonde navigation executive, finds reason to make a new start in human relations which have previously gone badly for him. Commitment is giving hostages to fortune and, in the struggle for existence, puts a handicap weight on the sensitive. When he is finally brought to face a replay of an old situation, he cannot, by his own efforts, exorcise the ghosts of his past.
