"In the wake of the near destruction of the solar system, the political powers on Earth seek a separate peace with an inscrutable alien life from that no one has ever seen. But Admiral Alexander King, the hero of Aplhekka, has gone rogue, launching his fabled battlegroup beyond the boundaries of Human Space against all orders. With Confederation warships in hot pursuit, Koening is taking the war for humankind's survival directly to a myserious omnipotent...

Dispatched on a trial run, NASA's SuperAegis satellite has been created as the foundation of an international antimissile defense system. But moments after dispatch, it vanishes. Rear Admiral Jake Grafton fears something worse than a grave malfunction-he suspects sabotage... The USS America-the world's most technically advanced nuclear submarine-is launched on its maiden voyage. Then shortly after steaming out of harbor, the unthinkable happens....