A colorful collection of gamblers embark upon the Butterfly’s Gambit, including the Travellers’ old friends Bazen Durana and Troitska. As the title suggests, it’s not long before a foul murder is done, and the Travellers must solve the case before the jump ends and the culprit escapes.
The Travellers fly their new patrol cruiser, now rechristened the Butterfly’s Gambit, back to Boughene, where they hatch a plan to finally deal with the Brothers of Farbauti.
The sabotaged geothermal tap in Research Station Gamma has caused a volcanic eruption. The Travellers narrowly escape the blast, only to learn that their starship is missing!
Sir Kevin has stabilized the Imperial researcher, but his wounds indicate he was attacked by a creature with very large, sharp claws. The Travellers descend deeper into the Research Station in search of Chiree’s nest-mates.
On the militarized world of Beck’s World, the Travellers agree to help a small, innocent alien named Chiree to rescue its nestmates from the humans that abducted them.
The Travellers flee Feri steps ahead of a violent insurrection that destroys the starport. They jump to Beck’s World, a lower-tech world where the people have a strange obsession with umbrellas. Ironic since they just departed a world where everyone needed an umbrella.
The Travellers depart Boughene with a cargo hold full of strange wildlife to be transplanted on another world. On the way, they land on the storm-drenched world Feri, where they are involuntarily drawn into a local conflict.
Jase and Qazyna are stricken by a disease that may have killed the entire crew of the Annic Nova. Now the Travellers rush to the high-tech world Boughene in hopes of finding a cure.
The Travellers make their way into the black to rendezvous with the alien derelict, where they make an unexpected new friend and encounter a terrible new threat!
With their criminal records finally cleared, the Travellers bid farewell to Uakye and set their sights on a secret deep space refueling depot, where they hope to intercept a mysterious alien spacecraft.