Terrans are much more artistic than the Flickers, but thanks to their understanding of chemistry and biology, the Flickers enjoy good health indefinitely.
Best of all, the biological nanites that keep them healthy work on humans! Long life, immortality even, seems possible.
That's a good thing, isn't it?
Not for Terra, which already has far too many people! Can the Solar Union force Mars to take the excess?
And there's more, much more to the story.
What if a few humans start living REALLY close to those almost-human extraterrestrials?
Oh, my! What will the good people of Terra say?
But that will have to wait. Humanity is facing the greatest threat ever, a catastrophe that will wipe out not only Mars but Terra itself.
Can anything be done? Or should a few carefully selected humans be loaded onto cobbled-together colony craft in the hope that after the disaster, humanity can recover?
Is that even possible? Or is it no more than a forlorn hope for a doomed species?
Against this background, a small fleet of ships sets out, bound for interstellar space. They're determined to do whatever it takes. Success is not assured.
The only guarantee is that failure will wipe out every human in the solar system.
