The mid 21st Century world lays between two warring ideologies: the Pioneers who seek a vastly enlarged, virtually immortal biosphere safe from Nemesis, and the Natives who see ever expanding human civilization as a virus threatening all life everywhere. An undeclared war rages from the teeming, overcrowded cities Earth side to the satellite cities orbiting Old Blue and even to Mars, the next step in colonization. Into this maelstrom steps Jennifer Strand, microbiologist and daughter of Oscar Strand who authored the Destiny Hypothesis, and Boone Dalton, rebuilt human and reluctant prot¨¦g¨¦ of the Arch Pioneers Calvin Ritsch. They board the miles-long cruise ship, COPERNICUS, expecting an uneventful voyage to Mars. Instead, they encounter assassins and saboteurs with no escape, and it's unlikely they will survive the experience.
