A Patusian trader on a routine intergalactic run awakens on a strange planet. His space ship is gone. His eyes and ears are missing and gaping holes are all that's left of his nose and mouth. In place of his main senses he has inexplicably gained the power of telepathy, which he must harness as his only defense against the ferocious and highly evolved aliens, the drogan Kin, who hunt him for food. Maranth, a stunningly beautiful young doctor, was briefed about the depravities of sex, violence, and intoxication before she left her cultured home planet, Veddi, to begin practicing medicine at an off-world mine. But when savage Afthari raiders attack the mine and enslave her, Maranth finds herself in a world frighteningly different from the perfect, structured society in which she was raised. Against all odds, the trader finds his way to the Afthari raider colony and uses his newfound telepathy to communicate with Maranth, the only kind soul he finds there. Together, they embark on a daring journey to return home.