One book, two stories, each connected to one another, giving the reader the choice of where to begin:

Joshua is a genetically-modified human, created to survive a 490-light-year voyage to another habitable planet after Earth is destroyed by a meteorite. He stumbles upon a genocidal plot among the elites of the ship, and somehow must find a way to survive using only his savant-like intellect.

Marai accompanies her mother on sabbatical to live among a lost tribe, when they encounter another murderous tribe who can see despite sewing their eyes closed. She learns of an ancient...