Fortunes of the imperium

"Lieutenant Lord Thomas Kinago sets out from the Imperium homeworld for the Autocracy of the Uctu, a galactic region with a geckolike overlord. Thomas is ostensibly on a pleasure cruise with his cousin to enjoy Gecko culture. In fact, Thomas is on a mission for the secret service to discover how prohibited goods are being smuggled into the Autocracy. His crew's overt assignment is to find out why legitimate shippers are being detained without explanation. Thomas's reputation for sudden enthusiasm and goodhearted mayhem precede him. It is all his trusted aide Parsons can do to keep Thomas on course. While the Autocrat, a new and fairly young Uctu female, finds Thomas a curious diplomat, she also rather likes him--much to Parson's relief. It seems Thomas needs free passage within the Uctu home system before he can investigate the illegal contraband. The smuggling ring is quite determined to cancel Thomas's visit before he can cancel them and as usual, it's up to Parsons to find a way to lead his hapless master to victory--or at least keep hims from getting himself killed by a very determined enemy"--