Mankind was starting its third jump in to the Galaxy, but Old Earth had so long kept to herself that her individuals were struggling to travel safely among the rough-and-tumble civilizations that had evolved on distant worlds. That irritated Earth’s rulers, for Hobart Floyt–a minimal Terran bureaucrat– had been remaining a secret inheritance by the deceased ruler of a small but rich interstellar empire. Earth was dirt-poor, and the federal government wished Floyt’s inheritance; but to collect it, Floyt would have to travel to the Reading from the Can…many light-years away! Therefore Alacrity Fitzhugh–a young, but seasoned spacer–is blackmailed into shepherding this naive Terran on the dangerous interstellar search.