Was Andas an android-or the rightful Emperor, held prisoner on a distant planet while an android impersonated him on the Empire's throne world? Was Tallhassee Mitford a modern archaeologist suffering from strange delusions, or has an ancient Egyptian ankh somehow hurled her personality far back in the mists of time to a Nubian kingdom where she is now a warrior princess named Ashake, caught up in a struggle between the gods of Egypt? Two very different heroes in the grip of forces beyond control, beyond comprehension, both destined to be the only hope of doomed civilizations . . .