Maktel Geebrit, Pleskit's best friend from back home on Hevi-Hevi, is finally going to visit him on Earth. Pleskit is excited, but a little nervous, too. How will Maktel get along with Pleskit's new friend, Tim? And just how do you cope with having two best friends on the same planet, anyway?

As if that question weren't enough, Pleskit's Fatherly One has an off-world visitor, an elegant trader named Ellico vec Bur. But is Ellico really a friend, or is the trader also a traitor...the greatest menace that the mission to Earth has yet faced?