Near the turn of the twentieth century, young Harry Vardon becomes a champion golfer but learns that his amazing skill is no match for the class boundaries that exclude him from "gentlemanly" English society. A dozen years later, a young American, Francis Ouimet, fights against the same prejudice, as well as his own father's disdain, for a chance to participate in the U.S. Open against his idol -- Harry Vardon. The struggles of both men for acceptance provides the background for an amazing contest of skills.

Robbins is sentenced to prison for the assassination of his general officer, a prison you leave only when you die. Since nobody ever leaves the prison, nobody knows what the prison is like. The prison manager realizes this and buys himself an island playground called "Absolom," where the worst prisoners are free to create an isolated barbaric society, and where the strongest men rule...a living hell. Robbins is sent to Absolom after he almost kills the prison manager.

In the mid-27th century, the Terran Confederation is at war with the felinoid Kilrathi Empire. After destroying a Terran base, the Kilrathi have seized a NAVCOM unit with the hyperspace jump coordinates to Earth. With Terran reinforcements scheduled to arrive two hours after the Kilrathi hit Earth, it falls upon the starfighter carrier TCS Tiger Claw to keep the Kilrathi busy.