Universe for Sale is a space adventure that is set in current time. Professor Calvin Pierson (“Cal”) is determined to prove to his colleagues that his lifelong theory of human evolution is correct. His passion for this project has been so intense, that his career and marriage to his beautiful bride, Judy, are at the breaking point. Cal doesn’t seem to care very much; this fixation has become all consuming.
While working on an archaeological dig, trying to prove that modern humans did indeed have two different species involved in our heritage, he stumbles on a large metallic anomaly with a metal detector. After weeks of excavation, he and his team uncover a craft that they can’t identify.
At about this same time, Judy arrives at the dig site to give Cal an ultimatum on their relationship. She travelled to the other side of the world, mainly because Cal had withdrawn thirty thousand dollars from their savings account without consulting with her. That initiative gets put on hold when he shows her the ship. By accident, they manage to find a way inside, and with the help of the onboard artificial intelligence (AI), they get the ship into orbit around Earth. While the events are very exciting, and Cal and Judy are trying to figure out what to do next, they begin receiving threats from countries to shoot them down. They had never imagined this as a result, but it was real enough that they have to leave Earth orbit and head for parts unknown.
Their first location, on a planet named Convivial, seems like a pretty mild-mannered city on a very organized planet. They are soon to find out that the officials in the city would very much like for Cal and Judy to stay for a while, whether they like it or not.
After departing Convivial, they embark on a quick visit to a refitting station that is run by the Federation. Here they find out that some credit chips they found on the ship are loaded with credit, so they purchase some supplies. Their now updated star-maps give them a lead on a planet, Doctrial, in this solar system that has a Federation Knowledge Repository. They head there to see if they can find some information on how to get back to Earth, undetected.
On Doctrial, Cal and Judy spend some time in the Knowledge Repository. Cal finds that there are publications that date back many tens of thousands of years on Earth. He even finds an old hunting/picture book showing all kinds of species of dinosaurs, with full color photos.
They are confronted by a group of unsavory looking guys after their visit to the library. They are told that their ship has attracted lots of attention and has been impounded. Cal and Judy don’t believe this story and decide to immediately head back to the ship, but find when they get there, that it is indeed being guarded by some sort of police. The leader of the unsavory gang offers to help them get off Doctrial, an offer which they begrudgingly accept.
Once they are a distance away from the planet, Judy has an idea that maybe they were allowed to leave because there was someone planted on the ship. The onboard AI informs them, that besides the two of them, their new guest from the unsavory gang, Partin, there is only one other person on the ship, in the sleep room in stasis.
Everyone on the ship is stunned, but they go back to the sleep room and see for themselves that there absolutely is someone in a stasis pod. After much argument, they decide to revive him. During this time, Partin relays what he had heard about the ship that made him go out and try to find Cal and Judy to begin with. The story is that the crew of the ship were wanted for a murder spree that spanned two galaxies. After this story, and investigation of the old logs on the ship, they surmise that the guy they are reviving now is probably the leader of that crew.
Once the crew member is revived, they immediately find out that he’s a violent hater of the Federation and a misogynist. They had discussed that they would have the advantage of numbers, if the crew member turned out to be a problem. They didn’t realize that he was built like a professional body builder. It was obvious that even if all three of them attacked him, they probably wouldn’t have a chance.
After this event, Cal finally comes to the realization that Judy is the most important thing to him in the entire universe, and always was. They decide to try and help Senior Inspector Sherin, from the Federation Security Division, that tracked them down on Sector One on a planet named Itinerate. They must find a way to get the new crew member, who they call “Chief”, into a position where the Federation can capture him.
In order to help Sherin, they plan to get as many details on the information that “Chief” is trying to sell as they can. It seems he has information on a port that allows the transfer of materials and people to another universe.
Will they be successful?