Tompa Lee, twenty-second-century 'street meat' from Manhattan, has clawed her way up to the lowest rungs of the Commerce Space Navy. Unfortunately, she is framed for a heinous act of terrorism and the alien Shons demand that she be turned over to them for trial. Dante Roussel is the Navy policeman ordered to deliver Tompa - but he learns that Shon justice demands a trial-by-combat with Tompa and her supporters battling three hundred accusers. Awmit is her only Shon supporter, an old, feckless nobody who witnessed Tompa's innocence. Appalled by the injustice of two against three hundred, Dante disobeys orders and charges off to help Tompa. In the face of overwhelming odds, Tompa Lee finally discovers the trust and love that she has never known - and in the process, becomes a legend.