When it is discovered that the human brain is key to interstellar travel, one impoverished tradesman must decide whether to sacrifice the wonderfully wise, but ultimately artificial, eagle brain residing inside a beautiful humanoid shell or his own. A desperately poor tradesman realizes his humanoid friend, a charming artificial intelligence, is the key to faster and more lucrative interstellar travel. But to achieve this, he must pry her brain from her body and risk killing her.

Urban legends about a popular folk hero get passed on through the years as human beings colonize outer space.