Publisher's Synopsis
After his heroics aboard the Hibernia in Midshipman's Hope, Nicholas Seafort wins command of his first ship, the Challenger, and joins Admiral Tremaine's task force. Their first meeting is a rude awakening, however, as Tremaine demotes him to a smaller, overcrowded ship and blatantly ignores Seafort's report of alien life on Hope Nation. Above all, Seafort is anxious for his pregnant wife, who's due to have their baby on the journey.