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Evelyn Cyril "E.C." Gordon has been recently discharged from a war in Southeast Asia. He is considering what to do with his life when he spots a strange advertisement in a newpaper that offers a job for a "hero." He answers the ad and discovers that his employer will be an incredibly beautiful woman who enlists him for an adventure on alien worlds.

The novel was originally serialized in "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction" (July - September 1963). The cover, as seen here, is by prolific science fiction illustrator Ed Emshwiller. Early in the story, the hero (called Oscar through a misunderstanding), is equipping himself with weapons from a large selection brought along on the expedition-- "...and found there the blade that suited me the way Excalibur suited Arthur. I've never seen one quite like it, so I don't know what to call it. A saber, I suppose, as the blade was faintly curved and razor sharp on the edge and sharp rather far on the back. But it had a point as deadly as a rapier and the curve was not enough to keep it from being used for thrust and counter quite as well as chopping away meat-axe style."