As supervisor of interstellar material's Deepdig #2 mining colony, Barton Kinsolving is one of the most important humans in the galaxy. For Deepdig is one of mankind's only sources for samarium salts - that rare mineral essential for interstellar travel - grudgingly leased to mankind by the despised Lorr.

Barton Kinsloving was a mining engineer, not a spacefaring adventurer - until on the mining planet deepdig he stumbled across interstellar materials horrifying secret scheme for planetary genocide.