The next chapter in Edward M. Lerner's InterstellarNet saga is a
startling adventure of Second Contact, up-front and in-person. Humanity
is about to discover that meeting aliens face to face is very
different--and a lot more dangerous--than sending and receiving
messages.
Good fences, said the poet, make good neighbors... and interstellar
distances made very good fences. Or so we thought. Earth and its
interstellar neighbors have been in radio contact for a century and a
half. A vigorous commerce in intellectual property has accelerated
technical progress for all the species involved. Ideas, riding on radio
waves, routinely cross interstellar space--almost like neighbors
chatting over the interstellar back fence. But there is a way over, or
under, or around, almost any fence. Sooner or later, when we least
expect it, the neighbors, friendly or otherwise, are going to pay a
call....