The novel chronicles the founding of the Galactic Patrol by Virgil Samms, the first sentient being in our cosmos to wear the "Lens", a unique badge of authority which is actually a form of "pseudo-life" that grants telepathic powers to the defenders of Civilization.

He wants to establish the Galactic Patrol to protect civilization from the forces of evil for which he needs to have a reliable (unfakeable) symbol to identify its members.

He is guided by one of his trusted subordinates to Arisia, a previously unapproachable planet, where he is greeted by a benevolent and telepathic Arisian who presents him with a "Lens".

Having beaten off the pirate fleet attacking The Hill, it was time to cut off the head of the dragon by defeating the corrupt political machine in the next election.

After a knock down, drag out fight between the two parties, another battle in space even bigger than the first, and the release of all the evidence of corruption gathered and held on to before, the Cosmocrats win the crucial election.