There were the contracts, the agents, the local sponsors, the pay-per-view broadcasts, the independent verification of results, the laws which made murder legal in carefully defined circumstances It had taken a long time for the system of freelance duellists to be established, and an even longer time to develop the league of interplanetary superstars the others fought to reach and to challenge. And just when it was all working satisfactorily and profitably someone or something started interfering with the set up. began to fall victim to casual, one-time challengers the sort of psychos and testosterone-addled drunks who would themselves be expected to die quickly and routinely. there is more to the situation than simple murder and mayhem. But before he can sort it out, he needs to save his client Leela. How long can she survive on a planet where not to kill is an offence punishable by death?