A lifetime ago and a thousand light-years from home, beyond the edge of mapped space, Nhoresh Goban crashed a survey ship into the side of a mountain in the remote San Juan Mountains of western Colorado. He survived to find his way into a pristine cliff-rimmed valley, where he built a beloved homestead on the edge of wilderness and a new life among aliens, trying to forget, and hoping to be forgotten. Kate Hutchins is lost, only mostly by accident. Desperate for a change of scenery, any excuse to walk away from secret biotech research she has come to loathe but can't quite bring herself to...