Earth and its young colony Coyote have a difficult relationship, yet together they must face the astonishing truth that mankind is no longer alone ...

The starship Robert E. Lee is bearing a controversial cargo on its return to earth: the only surviving crew of the EASS Galileo. This ship and all aboard it vanished decades previously, while examining an apparently alien artefact.

As John Shillinglaw, director general of the European Space Agency, waits nervously for the vessel to dock, he ponders the mystery. Theodore Harker, 1st Officer; Jared Ramirez, astrobiologist; and Emily Collins, pilot; have been missing for fifty-six years. Where have they been ... and why have they come back now?