On a visit to see Zoboru, a new, no-kill preserve, the three starmen, Ranger Asaki, and the flitter pilot are stranded in the jungle when their flitter crashes. The men must walk back to their base while avoiding encounters with Khatka’s dangerous fauna. One such encounter tells them that they are being tracked and herded by Lumbrilo.
In a deadly swamp the men come to a camp occupied by a small team of poachers. There Tau confronts Lumbrilo, turns his magic back on him, and sends him screaming into the jungle, thereby solving Ranger Asaki’s problem. Captain Jellico and his men then return to the Solar Queen for what they hope will be a nice quiet mail run.