LEVEL NINE begins with a heart rending tragedy. The dogged determination of Rod Oliver, supervising engineer of the Petrolode Project, along with Nate Roland and Steve Buller, crack mine accident investigators, to find what caused the death of all 38 workmen at level nine of the project led to a series of adventures. The three were captured and taken to the beautiful underground city of Paran-Kedesh where ancient laws ordained the death penalty for trespassers. King Ramah, however, opted to offer hospitality instead to ease his conscience for ordering the death of the mine workmen. As a guest of the royal family and the city, Rod fell in love with Berah, beautiful daughter of the king. Life in the city was not without action and adventure, and soon Rod and Berah were married and Ramah dispatched them to the upper world to insure no further incursions would be made. Here Berah was both awed and delighted by the upper world and after nerve shattering experiences in this unfamiliar place, she became convinced she could never live here. Rod, also forced to consider a life in the narrow confines of Paran-Kedesh, doubted his sanity could survive a life there. Meeting these cultural and natural differences of their worlds finally led to an apparent breaking point in their marriage.