The assignment seemed mundane enough: clearaway a "junk pile" of abandoned ships that are adrift in a region of space that is in the way of a convoy of colony vessels en route to a new world. But the S.C.E.'s missions never stay routine for very long...

Odd occurrences start happening all over the U.S.S. da Vinci, compounded by the fact that none of their solutions for clearing the ships seems to be working. Soon, the very nature of reality becomes endangered, and Soloman must interface with a powerful alien computer to keep the da Vinci from falling victim to the...

Paul Kupperberg