Hawkes never wanted the assignment on Mars. Yet when the Martian mining colonies threatened a revolution that would have left Earth starved of resources, he accepted that he was probably the only man who could handle the job. Now, with the corrupt rule of big business broken, and Hawkes himself in place as prime minister of Mars, the planet named for the god of war seems on its way to a peaceful future. But the Martian miners are inexperienced at freedom, and can be manipulated by people adroit at arranging "facts" to create false impressions - politicians such as Michael Carri, Earth's Senate majority leader, a sworn enemy to Hawkes. Carri had encouraged the revolution on Mars, after which, he hoped, the miners would have been so thoroughly crushed that Earth could have looked forward to years of virtual slave labor. He was not pleased when Hawkes brokered a peaceful solution, or when papers were signed that promised the miners improved conditions and a share in the profits of their labor. Assassination attempts have already shown Benton Hawkes that the road ahead is not to be as smooth as he hoped, but he is prepared to take all the steps necessary to see that the people of Mars live free at last.

In Tek Money, Jake Cardigan tries to relax. But as he enjoys a rare night out at the theater, his son Dan has a frightening experience at the Cardigans' beachfront home. A seemingly deranged man, muttering to himself about nightmare visions that torment him, comes looking for Jake - and then dies suddenly, as Dan tries to find out what he wants. So begins an unwelcome sequence of events. First Dan is accused of murdering the man. Once the police realize that accusation is ridiculous, suspicion falls on Jake: the dead man is Peter Traynor, a Tek addict, a friend of Jake's from the bad old days, when the drug had a strong hold on them both. The murderer did Traynor in with a Tek "sizzler", a powerful chip that plugs directly into the user's brain, starts by giving him wonderful visions, and ends by producing uncontrollable hallucinations. Traynor has literally died of fear. Jake had not seen Traynor in years, but the police are still suspicious. In the meantime, it appears that everybody else in Traynor's past wants Jake's help in solving the crime. The dead man's sister, who has no money but does have a tremendous chip on her shoulder, wants to hire Jake - as long as somebody else pays. The dead man's ex-wife, a mysteriously wealthy woman, also wants to hire Jake, and she'll pay plenty - but it isn't exactly clear that a solution to the crime is what she wants for her money. Jake knows that his own good name is on the line until he finds the real killer.

After defeating the dreaded Hunnza fleet, Jim Endicott wants a "normal" life. But his wish is not to be, for a new and even more terrible conflict is stirring. Earth's former ally, the Alba Packlord, suspects that humans are about to "Leap"--transcend to another level of existence in a process that will sweep away star systems, laying waste to the universe. To eliminate the human threat, the Packlord has made a secret alliance with the Hunnza--but not if the mysterious immortal known as the Outsider can stop them using Jim as a weapon. First, though, the Outsider has to find his embittered hero. Distraught over the death of his father, Jim has plunged deep into the underground, where danger of another kind lurks in the shape of a girl as bad as she is irresistible. But the Packlord will stop at nothing to succeed, including assassination. Jim's only hope for survival lies in making the Leap himself: taking the step into chaos that will save humankind or turn the universe into a graveyard of burned-out stars.