The Vom is an intergalactic intelligence described as a large black blob resembling a gigantic amoeba (although it is established to be multi-cellular), impervious to almost all energy and physical attack.

By the time the Tar-Ayim empire crumbled, leaving a single Guardian orbiting the planet, the Vom was too weak to escape.

Once on Repler, they make contact with the drug trader Dominick Rose, who had used an unwitting Captain Malcolm "Mal" Hammurabi and his ship, the Umbra, as unwilling transporters of bloodhype.

Led by Mal, the agents enlist the help of another wealthy (but legitimate) Replerian merchant, Chatham Kingsley, who has discovered the Tar-Aiym Guardian (named Peot) and his machine now orbiting above Repler.

Alerted to the presence of the Guardian, the Vom escapes the AAnn base, destroying the installation and also the surface ships of the local Commonwealth constabulary.