Environmental Studies graduate student John Toffler interceptsa letter intended for his mysterious roommate, Kyle. Inside John finds a key and a note reading: don't. Before he can return the key to Kyle, John and his friends, Laurie and Bill, accidently use it to open a gate to another world. In an instant they are torn from the easy life they've known and hurtled into the harsh wastelands of Basawar. Kyle--who in his own world is known as Kahlil--realizes that he must kill John before he destroys Basawar. Despite the Great Gate being shattered, he follows John, Laurie and Bill backto his home world. But the passage through leaves him physically beaten and his memories broken. Confused and alone in a world he no longer recognizes, Kahlil takes refuge among men who have a use for his deadly skills.