Nick Appleton is an Old Man, an anxiety-ridden, pill-popping menial labourer, whereas Council Chairman Willis Gram is the psionically gifted, despotic oligarch of a planet ruled by the super-intelligent New Men. So, when they both fall for the same feisty, young woman who distributes revolutionary propaganda, Nick's prospects look bleack. But then Thors Provoni, the revolution's leader, returns after a ten-year, intergalactic search for help and things take a decidedly unusual turn because the ninety-ton protoplasmic slime that accompanies him seems pretty determined to create a new world order...