Synopsis: The mind ship was the break through to the stars. In spite of work on Faster Than Light, hyperdrives, and such, it was the power of the mind that turned out to be the most certain directing force between the worlds. So the mindships came into being, driven forward by the lines of mental energy, directed by trained crews - and held together not by the navigator or the captain but by the man they called the cork. He was just another man but he had the ability to siphon out the discords which could wreck a ship, to create the harmony without which starflight would be disastrous. Kilgarin was such a "cork." but he had deliberately grounded himself until they forced him to take up the mental reins again. It was their risk and they should have known better - because Kilgarin had ulterior motives no ship's cork had a right to harbor. Mindship is a brilliant new concept by one of the young rising lights of the science fiction cosmos. (from the back cover of the DAW Books first edition)