Synopsis: From the back cover of the DAW first edition: "The taking of Hilax Four - Behind every folktale there is a true story and behind every legend a lost fact of history, distorted by word of mouth of people who did not understand what was really happening. In the case of the infiltration of the highly strategic space station upon which the battle between the Salviar Federation and the Hilax Combine pivoted, the account of Earth's role in the affair has become greatly distorted. Because that was eight hundred years ago and the men of Olde England never even knew the world was round, let alone that it was a planet. Earth still doesn't know which side we were on and because we are out on a far limb of Galactic Sector Seven they haven't contacted us yet. But our very position in the Milky Way just that once made our little planet strategic - and when Salviar's scout Jasar-am-Bax had to enlist the aid of a clever young yeoman to launch his kamikaze attack the result became legend. But it took John Rackham to uncover the real story behind the event. it's all in Beanstalk - it just depends on how you look at it."