Chirico Cuvie wakes up in the Sandrunner of a curious little man named Gecko, who scolds him for trying to cross the Quent desert alone on foot. Chirico looks out the window of the vehicle in the desert traders' caravan; they are approaching the Tower of Gomor. In orbit around Quent, Albert Killy cautions Arron and Gurran, who are about to embark on an expedition. Chrico is not the only threat to them; the planet itself can take lives. Chirico parts with Gecko in Gomer and heads for the mercenary center, where he demands to speak with a Quentman. The workers in the center react with suspicion, and a chase erupts when Chirico becomes the target of security guards. He finds his way into a room that houses the emissary to the Quentmen. Chirico asks questions about Quent and the PS, but the emissary cannot provide answers, saying instead that he will get Chirico some help. Chirico flees the mercenary center into the hands of Hazegar, a thug-for-hire who insists that Chirico come to meet his master. Gecko intervenes, telling Chirico to surrender for moment. He resists being picked up, but is shot with a tranquilizer and taken to the spaceport where Arron and Gurran await to take custody. At the last moment, fate intervenes in the form of the Mayor of Gomor, who claims Chirico is the guest of a Quentman, whose authority must be obeyed. The Quentman turns out to be Ru Shako, recently returned from Kummen! Amazed, Chirico prepares to embark on his quent into the desert with his unexpected ally. "Our reunion on Quent could only be called miraculous. With uncertainty and anticipation mixing within me, I stepped forward into an unknown world. what awaited me at the end of this desert?"
