Eco-engineer Haviland Tuf faces an almost insurmountable task: the salvation of humanity. Humanity has spread across the infinite expanses of space. New settlements have emerged everywhere, and each world harbors new dangers. When the interplanetary trader Haviland Tuf acquires one of Earth's last seed ships, his odyssey through space begins. An odyssey in which he transforms from a simple trader into the celebrated savior of humanity.