Earth's first spaceship to Venus landed amidst a war where strange weapons like the archaic ones used in the old wars on Earth in the twentieth century hurled shells at each other. But this war had lasted over a thousand years—and by remote control!

George Starkey had to find a way to stop the war before the little group of astronauts became early casualties. But how? Where were the headquarters of the contending sides and how do you tell a robot tank that you're neutral?

But George had an ally, a Venusian girl who thought stealing was virtuous—and, unknowingly, he had something else that turned out to be the most valuable substance on Venus—a box of chocolate bars!