With few ambassadors available for the recently conquered worlds, the fleet of the Bebaus brothers is left behind. Lafiel is appointed Territorial Ambassador of Lobnas II. Upon arriving at Jinto, Lafiel discovers that the planet had been used by United Mankind as a prison world, now holding a million inmates on its only inhabited island. The prisoners are divided into three sectors: the western sector houses women, the eastern sector houses men, and the central sector is mixed but requires that all inmates be sterilized. The women in the western sector wish to escape the fear‑laden planet, while the men in the eastern sector rebel, overthrowing the gu…