The People of Traenah faced a terrible disaster. The comet was coming. It would certainly strike at a predictable time and place. There could be no question about that. The immutable laws of the universe demanded it. The approaching cataclysm silenced wars and joined bitter enemies together to find a way out. A way to somewhere else. Anywhere, else, where they could survive. Amid this crisis, hard science and mystical religion battled for the soul of a modern society. Some chose to escape certain death, others to embrace it as a moment of supernatural transformation. The sudden appearance of a strange alien offering rescue only served to harden their resistance. Xenophobic, and warlike, they would prove an unusual challenge for the Fleet. And David Powell's first cruise in command of
Onizuka
would not go at all as he had planned.