The death of her cherished friend and guide Nemo, the alien squidmoth,
came as a crushing blow to J.D. Sauvage. But J.D. and the first contact
crew of the Earth ship Starfarer hope that the enigmatic being's
legacy--the starship Nautilus--will lead them closer to communion with
alien intelligence. Awaiting them on their journey are the
representatives of the Four Worlds and one last chance to join
interstellar Civilization, from which Earth has long been barred.
But first J.D. and her fellow wayfarers must convince the aliens that
humanity is worthy of Civilization. It is an argument that they will
find hard to win, given humanity's violent past. What's worse, they
don't have much time to win it. For the cosmic string that can guide the
Starfarer home is fast unraveling. Soon the beleagured crew will have to
make a decision that will affect all the people of Earth: whether to
turn back to Earth while there's still time--or make one last desperate
effort to win over their implacable alien hosts.