The Jovayan have kidnapped Pharaoh Farrow's friend, Myra Gregorson.That was a mistake.In exchange for her life they demand that he rescue one of their people from Galtero Max, a heavily guarded prison planet with a reputation for no escapes. That was their second mistake.Pharaoh has no choice but to agree. Posing as one of the prisoners he begins to hunt for the Jovayan who could be anywhere on the continent. But, as he fights off the planet's deadly native life, negotiates with equally dangerous prisoners, and learns more about the one he's hunting, Pharaoh begins to wonder who this Jovayan...

Human life has outgrown Earth, and the survey team of the ES Valgard is searching nearby star systems for new worlds to colonize. No team has found one where human life could survive...until now. The scans from orbit as well as the probes launched to its surface tell Andy and Cory that the bonus for finding such a world is almost theirs. But when they set their feet on the ground they discover what the scans and the probes could not tell them, that this ancient world is already inhabited, and that magic rules. Or does it? Trapped by creatures whose true shape they cannot see, manipulated...