Following a global refugee crisis, Indonesia invades half of Australia and warlords emerge from the chaos of Occupied Australia. China steps in as the only superpower capable of restoring peace. Major Katherine Krue is ordered to take out an ex-Australian Army colonel, who commands a militia army and imports weapons of mass destruction.

Adam, a neo-human specifically designed for space travel, returns to Earth after a 99-year voyage to find that civilization has changed and unexpectedly lurched backwards. Traumatized by space, isolation, death, and the mutiny of his own crew, Adam has many secrets to hide.

Soon, now, or a day in the far future, mankind will make real alien contact and diplomacy will either have us subjugated and navely enslaved, or equipped with knowledge and technology that enables us to explore the stars. Alien contact and diplomacy is in our hands and our descendants' hands, so that one day they'll explore new worlds, and know how to drive a bargain, make a deal and survive, when they get there.