Book One of Five. An age of peaceful exploration has ended. With the discovery of the Leyra’an, the centuries-old dream of meeting an intelligent, nonhuman species has finally come true. But that dream becomes a disturbing enigma when the Leyra'an prove to be more than just humanoid. They are like us to a degree that cannot be explained by chance alone. The search for an answer to this mystery will reveal a universe stranger and more dangerous than anyone could have imagined, and expose both Humanity and the Leyra'an to the threat of extinction. For better or worse, that search has begun.