One captain’s death might turn out to be humanity’s best chance at survival. As humanity expands into the stars, it discovers the universe is a hostile place. When Captain Slater of the USS Franklin is assigned to a deep-space reconnaissance mission, his ship is destroyed by an unknown alien race.

Propulsion scientist Dr. Todd Cunningham was an astronaut headed for outer space until budget cuts killed the mission—and his lifelong dream. Now, he's just an obscure expert in fusion-powered space travel, a professor buried in an ever-increasing pile of work. But when a daring mission is approved to travel to Europa, Jupiter's frozen moon, Cunningham is thrust back into the spotlight by the very man he blames for ending his NASA career, and he finds himself joining the ranks of NASA astronauts on a groundbreaking journey to challenge humanity's understanding of life in the universe.

Silas only narrowly escaped Mars with his life and now the Pandora Fleet hails him as king. He knows he can lead on a battlefield, but questions if he’s prepared to lead a nation. In the fragile refuge of space, his fleet lies damaged, forcing him to make a critical decision: Bow to the lords of Mercury or travel to Luna and beseech the help of cold-hearted pirates.

The last survivors of the Ibecci race escape their doomed planet in the Barnard System after a violent flare eruption of their host star. They set for Earth, which they had visited 12,000 years earlier, arriving in the year 2062 to a near-future Earth that is in decline. The Ibecci plead with Earth to grant them shelter after 13 years of living in space. Earth fails to respond and the battle ensues pitting nations of Earth against an enlightened space faring civilization that is prepared to fight for its survival.

Lem’s a mace-wielding teen space-ninja in a universe of sentient insectoids, purple jungles, and insane electromagnetic fields. She solves most problems by hitting harder, and never plays by her enemy's rules - until Jared Diebol captures her. Diebol is the rising leader of an army uniting the galaxy by force. He believes that the violent energy being Njande has “contaminated” Lem and her friends from another dimension to conquer the matter-based universe. Diebol’s army usually kills contaminated people - but he vows to cure Lem.