"The slave market stood on the spaceport side of the Plaza of Liberty facing the capitol of the Nine Worlds. The auction chant of the slave trader was frequently drowned out by the rocket roar of the space ships." A slave market in a future galactic civilization? And the "plaza of liberty" is a nice touch. On sale in this market we meet a boy named Thorby. We'll follow his adventures from slavery to freedom, to escape in a Free Trader, a miniature world by itself with its own restrictive rules. More and stranger adventures will follow.