A group of women in space resort to terrorism to combat male abuse. It happens on the desert planet Irustan, a mining colony where women wear veils and are treated as slaves.

After rescuing POWs from a labor camp in the Heradao Star System, Captain John "Black Jack" Geary discovers that the Syndics plan to ambush his fleet, forcing him to jump from one star system to the next in an effort to avoid the enemy.

When he is asked to investigate a possible murder, Talon Avalon, a timecaster and peace officer in the year 2064, uses a special device to view the crime and discovers that someone is trying to frame him using timecasting.