acquainted with and attracted to Wayness Tamm, the daughter of the new Conservator. Glawen saves Wayness from a rape attempt by Arles. Then, after the murder of her brother (engineered by a Yip), Wayness reveals to Glawen that while she was visiting Earth, her father's cousin became the secretary of the nearly moribund Naturalist Society and discovered that the Charter was missing (a previous secretary had been a thief and sold the society's assets). Whoever possesses it is the legal owner of Cadwal. She decides to return alone to Earth to search for it. Glawen is ordered by Bureau B chief Bodwyn Wook to join the Bold Lions (a boisterous drinking club for devil-may-care youths) and travel to Yipton with them on an annual jaunt, using the opportunity to spy on the Yips. He is accompanied by Kirdy Wook, a Bold Lion and also a Bureau B agent. Glawen discovers that the Yips are secretly assembling a flyer (a flying vehicle), most likely to further their goal of seizing Deucas. However, Glawen is spotted. He gets away, but Kirdy is caught and tortured by the Yips. With great difficulty, Bodwyn Wook secures his release. Although Kirdy recovers physically, his mind is severely affected, and Glawen senses that Kirdy nurtures an intense irrational hatred for him. Glawen travels to a small island for a holiday. To his horror, he discovers that "parties" are being held there in which rich off-worlders are allowed to have their way with young Yip girls, who are then killed. An outraged Bodwyn Wook has them arrested, but is persuaded to allow the wealthy prisoners to pay very large fines instead of being executed in order to pay for desperately needed flyers and weapons to counter the Yip threat. He sends Glawen off-world to discover the identity of the organizers and, to Glawen's disquiet, orders that Kirdy accompany him. Kirdy eventually betrays Glawen, who is imprisoned by a sect which believes in total equality of the sexes. Their extreme stance has led to a declining population. Their leader informs Glawen that he is to be a sex slave to remedy the situation. It turns out some of the sect members had participated in the "parties" in a prior attempt to solve their dilemma. After six months, Glawen manages to escape and shut down the sect. He then returns to Cadwal and finally identifies Sessily's murderer: Kirdy Wook.