Summary

The book opens with an idyllic scene beside a small waterfall and a beautiful stream. Valerian is reclining and Laureline is seated nearby, with a 3-D chessboard between them. A caption explains that the two live in Galaxity, which is a “metropolis of the future and capital of the Terran Galactic Empire” (2). The people have entered a time of leisure. Valerian and Laureline are members of the Spatio-Temporal Agency, which keeps the earth safe. Laureline is claiming that she has Valerian beat when they are summoned to the agency headquarters.

There, Valerian's boss tells them that Xombul, their only political prisoner, has escaped. The boss tells him that Xombul stole a time spaceship and went to New York, 1986. For Laureline's benefit, he explains that this was the year when a hydrogen bomb depot exploded near the North Pole, melting ice caps and flooding...