Through three centuries of interstellar travel, intelligent alien
life- forms had never been encountered . . . until now.
When a scientific team exploring an obscure planet fails to make its
regular communications check, the Marines of third platoon are sent to
investigate. They prepare for a routine rescue operation, but what they
find on Society 437 is a horror beyond description. Only a handful of
ragtag pirates who were in the wrong place at the very worst time have
survived, and there is little trace of the scientists.
What happened to the scientists? Why have the pirates been spared?
Gunnery Sergeant Bass and the men of third platoon are about to find
out,
and the answer carries a terrifying implication for the Marines--and the
entire human race.