A murderous cult. Nature's deadly strength unleashed. Sometimes the most terrible enemy is time . . .

The peaceful, self-sufficient people of Tambora of Pele seem an unlikely target for Admiral Varn Tarl Sogan's hatred and anger. A turquoise-hued paradise world on the fringes of the universe, Tambora is light years away from other systems ravaged by the great intergalactic War.

But beneath Tambora's beauty lurks a terrible peril. A radical sect secretly arms itself, designing a deadly strategy for civil war. Far below the planet's oceans, an even mightier force rumbles and threatens to smother all life forms in a fiery shower of ash and molten rock. Only the Star Commandos can rescue Tambora from certain disaster-but are they too late?

"Excellent SF Adventure!"-Andre Norton