Publisher's Synopsis
The Human race is recovering from a galaxy wide plague which destroyed nearly every artificial intelligence computer and plunged worlds into the Millennium of Isolation. Now a bigger catastrophe is fast approaching, a cataclysm that threatens every civilisation in the galaxy. The greatest hope for salvation rests with a small alien vessel and its human crew. The Ship, as it calls itself, is convinced that it was made to help Humanity, but it cannot remember how or why. The Ship, pilot Art, chief engineer Yelena, reporter Becky and Lea an ex-librarian went on the run from the Kargol Empire, the biggest and most brutal kingdom in galactic history. They headed towards the Chimera sector, where they hoped to contact the ship's makers, an elusive and legendary race called Creators. On the way, Art was kidnapped by Kargol agents. The Empire also wanted to find the aliens. They all arrived in the Chimera sector only to find a series of alien built doorways. The grey portals which allowed near instantaneous travel between solar systems had also been constructed by the Creators. The aliens had predicted the approaching galaxy wide cataclysm and they used the gateways to escape into the far future. A band of humans shipwrecked by the plague, and their descendants, had been exploring the abandoned portals for nearly one thousand years. These voyageurs, as they were known had mapped much of the galaxy spanning network. Also in the Chimera sector was a ship from the Cult of the Explorers. These dedicated missionaries took the cure for the plague from world to isolated world. Suzi Wong, a veteran explorer, stepped into one of the gateways and was met by a bunch of alien creatures who gave her a controller for the portals. Using its alien technology, the voyageurs map of the portal network and the veteran explorers' controller, the Ship defeated the vast Kargol Fleet at the Battle of Chimera One. Yelena the renegade chief engineer rescued Art from the flag ship. Voyageurs and explorers joined together to become self-appointed guardians of the gateways. Now, the Kargol Emperor is determined to avenge his defeat at Chimera One. More than anything he wants to use the gateways to conquer the galaxy. The Ship wants to find its makers. The urgent question is why an alien species fled into the future and what is the nature of the approaching cataclysm?
