Defense attorney Harry Ballentine is understandably nervous when his client is mild-mannered accountant Murray Bernstein - who after investing in a strange toupee had felt compelled to murder the first lawyer he saw. Harry goes after it.

When Alan Webster's parents tell him that they have to move, the 17-year-old student is understandably upset - but not nearly as much as when he learns their destination is the planet Alturus, 85 billion miles away.