An excerpt of Paran Katar's speech, given upon his appointment to Chief Scientist of the World of Thanagar, provides insight into the man. Commander Byth interrupts Ensign Katar Hol's training session. Byth attacks Hol, to test his mettle. Byth recruits Hol for a secret mission to ferret out the Thanagarian traitor providing weapons to "Downside". Hol joins his father, Katar, for dinner. There, Hol re-encounters Shayera Thal, and her father, Thal Porvis. Hol's reunion with Thal turns romantic.
Thal returns to her father's table to tender her farewells. A waiter arrives with an explosive. Thal dies in the explosion. Her father, Porvis, is horribly maimed. Katar escapes with minor injuries. Byth, and Hol, confront the men responsible for the bombing, as well as funneling weapons into the "Downside". Hol guns down their leader, only to discover that it is his own father, Katar. Aware of Byth's foreknowledge of Katar's part in the conspiracy, Hol lashes out at Byth, then storms away.
At home, Hol plays his father's journals, and learns the reasons for his father's treason. Byth arrives to place Hol under arrest. Hol is found guilty of co-conspiracy, and sentenced into exile. Byth receives an elevation in rank. Hol is exiled to penal island the Isle of Chance. In the throes of drug withdrawal, Hol murders a fellow prisoner, who he believed was fashioning wings to escape the island The murder victim's brother, a holy man named R'd Nar T'So, informs Hol that the wings were, in fact, being fashioned for Hol.
Realizing how far he has fallen, Hol breaks down and weeps. R'd Nar T'so takes Hol under her wing, and mentors him, during their time in exile. After a decade has passed, and R'd Nar T'so has long since died, Hol's exile is ended. Hol is brought back to civilization, and left to live in the "Downside". Hol takes note of all the changes the past decade has wrought, while making plans to create more drastic changes of his own.
Notes:
- Keith Wilson credited as Book Design.
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