In 2154, Mileena Carter (Mile) is a cadet in the Earth Sciences Force investigating Needles, a newly discovered planet. An alien race, the Keeki, happened upon Needles, and offered a joint expedition with Earth. The Keeki are a race derived from a bird-like species, and the universal translator spews out their words in a haiku-like structure, which Mile has named KAIKU. But when Mile, and the expedition, start discovering artifacts, pyramids, puzzles (nonograms), new planets, and more, they realize another force is driving their actions. Will Mile be able to concentrate on the expedition, and...

Cyn-Tia Silverthorne wakes up to find herself stranded on an alien planet. She finds seven other teenaged humans and they are as confused as she is. To Cyn's delight, and some apprehension, twenty-four aliens (all teens on their own planets) have also been deposited: eight Temman, eight Irandi, eight Reannone. Every day, supplies and instructions are delivered to their village for pickup by the managing committee-which consists of Cyn, Stire, Frakis A Kirba, and Tine Jana-one representative from each race. After a time, the four races create a working collective, but they soon decide to...