Will our first contact with aliens be the dawn of a new tomorrow--or the
last act in human history?
The moon has suddenly acquired its own satellite: a two-mile-across
starship that represents a hitherto unsuspected Galactic Commonwealth.
The F'thk, a vaguely centaur-like member species for whom Earth's
ecology is hospitable, have been sent to evaluate humanity for
prospective membership. The F'thk are overtly friendly but very
private--"Information is a trade good." As Earth's scientists struggle
to understand their secretive appraisers, odd inconsistencies emerge. As
troubling as those anomalies is the reemergence of a bit of insanity
humanity thought it had outgrown: cold war and nuclear saber-rattling.
The Galactics' arrival may signify the start of a glorious new era, or
it may presage the cataclysmic end of human civilization. Which outcome
do the aliens really desire.... And what will they do if humanity
refuses to play its assigned role?
