His exploration ship blasted from orbit, Terran scout Adam Reith is stranded on Tschai, a world colonized by three alien species -- the Chasch, the Dirdir, and the Wannek -- while the planet\'s original inhabitants, the mysterious Pnume, lurk underground.
To recover his wrecked scout craft, he embarks on a perilous journey to the deca.
In the first book of the four-volume cycle, Reith falls in with a barbaric tribe of free humans, each weirdly ruled by the hereditary symbolic badge he wears.
His exploration ship blasted from orbit, Terran scout Adam Reith is stranded on Tschai, a world colonized by three alien species -- the Chasch, the Dirdir, and the Wannek -- while the planet\'s original inhabitants, the mysterious Pnume, lurk underground
