In the year 2146 the new Earth Federation had come into being. But, by the year 2235, the E.F. having reached the limits of tolerance with past wars, and being worried about the future, had founded the present Space Federation and banned all military operations in Space. The Space Federation itself was a non-military organisation, and was funded by the E.F. There had been a previous attempt to turn it into a Space Navy. But, this had been firmly rejected, and it continued on in the way it had originally been envisaged, with the exploration and scientific research of Space as its primary aim. However, a certain amount of weaponry was of course required to protect the ships and their crews. By the spring of 2301 the Earth Space Federation finally received the Adromeda7 interstellar StarShip. She had been built in the starship construction facility on Mars and was the first in a new generation of ships that were equipped with the latest in weaponry, and advanced comms systems. The comms systems also enabled Andromedas central computer to communicate with the Commander and his crew via transceiver implants that had been inserted into their brains. The Andromeda was powered by a Photon Drive for sub-light speed travel. While the newly upgraded Warp drive had extended the ships jump range, making it possible for the Andromeda and her Commander to carry out their first mission together. This was: One: To find the Starship Hawk. She had been commissioned in 2290 and sent to Procyon in Canis Major. But had disappeared under mysterious circumstances. By 2295, with nothing having been heard of her since, she was feared lost. Two: To locate the missing settler starship the Acarea, which had been powered by the now obsolete nuclear pulse engine. The Acarea had been launched almost two hundred years earlier before the faster-than-light barrier was broken by the warp-drive. She had a specially selected crew, plus eighty-five settlers. The ship was self-sustaining and had been equipped with everything needed to allow the settlers to start a new life on one of the planets orbiting Procyon. It was to be The Great Adventure. Earths first real attempt at colonising the stars. However, as most people now believed that it would have been virtually impossible for this type of binary star to have habitable planets. It was a mystery why the Acarea had been sent to Procyon in the first place. And, the disappearance of this ship was perhaps the greater mystery of the two. Richardsons final remit was to search for any habitable planets in nearby star systems. The dangers facing Richardson, his crew, and their newly acquired faster-than-light StarShip. May well be more than a single ship can cope with when the humans find the Hawk hanging derelict in space some nine light years from Earth, and just three light years from Procyon. They eventually learn that the damage may have been caused by a bombardment of high energy particles. Or, by negative mass. Later, they realise that the Hawk has been destroyed by an alien species. A species who are more advanced than them by virtue of the weaponry employed. The aliens, having been monitoring their movements, then attack them. But in the cat and mouse chase through space that follows the humans manage to destroy the alien ship, and continue on towards Procyon, in their search for the Acarea. But they leave knowing that, if the Andromeda had been captured, these aliens would have known where Earth was within moments of the ship being seized. These aliens, however, are an aggressive species hell bent on taking over all inhabited planets, wherever, and whenever they can find them. They pursue the humans, who suddenly find themselves thrown into a deadly and bitter interstellar war. Could this be the end of the Andromeda, and of Earth?