The writer—Colonel Colin Campbell, living under a number of aliases including his pen name "Richard Ames"—is joined by a beautiful and sophisticated lady, Gwendolyn Novak, who helps him flee to Luna with a bonsai maple and a would-be murderer ("Bill").

Accepting only on Gwen's account, Campbell agrees to assist a team to retrieve the decommissioned Mike, a sentient computer introduced in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.

Campbell is also eventually revealed to be a son of Lazarus Long,[1] a Heinlein character originally introduced in Methuselah's Children and who reappeared in Time Enough for Love, The Number of the Beast, and To Sail Beyond the Sunset.

Also appearing are Jubal Harshaw, a major character in Stranger in a Strange Land; Galahad, of Time Enough for Love; and Manuel Garcia O'Kelly Davis, the first-person protagonist of The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.

What's on the menu is those blasted inter-universal travellers from Number of the Beast, plus walk-ons from Time Enough for Love, Glory Road, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Stranger in a Strange Land and more.