As a professor of physics at Catskill Community College, Emmett Eisenberg has a fairly pleasant life. His girlfriend, Dr. Maria Montclaire of the Psychology department, is quite the catch His job pays well, and his reputation in his field is top-notch. He even has students who appreciate his approach to academics, though they lack his passion and talent. His unique view of the world - best reflected in his ability to see and manipulate atomic structures - has afforded him unlimited opportunities, so when a former colleague of his invites Emmett and Maria to reunite in New York City, he...

Ensign Lahira Ocean is the chief navigator of the Human battleship, the George Washington. Born on the world Magellan, she hails from a wealthy family, and joined the fleet as a precursor to her future as a trade magnate. Aside from astronomic charts and hyper-drive calculations, she studies history as both a pastime, and a lens to understand her life's path. She regularly muses about retirement, despite her incredible skill at military affairs. Fate intervenes when scanners on a Human-held planet, Hudson, pick up an approaching group of alien ships. The George Washington is deployed to...