THE CORPS DIPLOMATIQUE TERRESTRIENNE HAS NEVER SEEN HIS LIKE... Retief - the most diplomatic diplomat of the 27th century. His mission: to gain control of the most desirable planet in the universe - without triggering intergalactic war. He tries talking ... but how does anyone - even Retief - negotiate with an uninhabited planet? He tries a dice game ... but how does gambling help the solar peace organization prevent the malevolent Basurans (who've eaten their own planet) from turning to Terra's prize colony for an after-dinner snack? The problems Retief faces are just beginning, but as insurmountable as they seem, the indomitable adventurer prevails - and keeps the state of the universe on an even keel!

They're nasty little five-eyed sticky fingers who want the galaxy and will stoop to anything to get it. But when they try to sabotage one planet and use another for their garbage, it's time for Retief, that cunning and courageous emissary from Corps Diplomatique Terrestrienne to smash in. And smash in Retief does, in an extraordinary series of adventures that take him from gambling to gunplay, from the blue lagoons of the most coveted planet in the solar systems to the aid of one of the loveliest women in the galaxy--and ultimately up against the fiercest and most destructive beings in the Universe!

Coming in fast and low, the huge ship made planetfall. Three years out from Terra, the colony ship Omega had reached her destination, and the crew began to off-load the cargo and passengers. Then the ship vanished. Against the vast panorama of an unexplored universe, Keith Laumer sets this first volume of the history of the world called Colmar - mankind's first venture among the stars.

HE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MURDER It was a set-up ... but who was behind it, and why did they want Ban Tarleton out of the United Planetary Navy? Could it have been something to do with the innocent-looking chunk of rock dug from an asteroid by Tarleton's best friend - a discovery which caused him to be brutally killed? The Navy was helpless, under the orders of a greater power. Yet even the Star Lords had a weakness. If Tarleton could discover that secret, he and the populace of the beleaguered world might find freedom once again.

Awakened from suspended animation aboard his exploration starship, John Jackson is shocked to discover that the ship never left Earth - and that he has slept a century after a world war. Facing a nightmare wilderness inhabited by neo-barbarians and sentient tanks, Jackson is the only man who can bring the world to its senses.

The twenty-seventh century planet of Quopp is a world where Earthmen walk cautiously or not at all. The inhabitants are weirdly diabolical creatures, possessing spoked-wheel limbs and sprouting steel-sharp talons. Plans are afoot to place these singular beings under a single government friendly to Earth. But Jame Retief, officer of the distinguished Corps Diplomatique Teresstienne, a supra-national organization devoted to keeping the peace, has discovered that evil forces are undermining the whole scheme. Deviously sincere, uncompromisingly venal, fearlessly cowardly, Retief goes to work against mounting planetary intrigue and more than once brings those around him to the brink of nervous collapse.

Lumbaga is a planet without known virtues - but with some decidedly odd natives. For every Lumbagan is simply an arbitrary assortment of semi-independent organs inspired by a lust for mayhem. But even the most undesirable chunk of galactic real estate attracts its quota of rival overlords, and the fiendish Groaci had a scheme for absorbing Lumbaga into their sphere of influence. It was working well, too, until it involved Retief, Terran diplomat extraordinary. To his powerful intellect, the machinations of the Groaci were child's play...