In the Star Dancers, the second book in the Guardians of Peace science fiction adventure series, we see what happens when civilizations and species clash. The reader learns about the alien culture of the reptilian race known as the Crutchtans, which is suffering from internal divisions. We also meet Gal'Shenga, an alien leader anxious to achieve his dream of reforming and modernizing his society, and his nephew Ga'Glish, commander of the alien fleet.
But Terra has problems of its own, and the Terran Cosmic Guard has its hands full: pirates and privateers are still infesting their skies, as they have for hundreds of years...a vestige of their history that has led Terra to develop ever-better machines of destruction to protect their lanes of commerce. Meanwhile, a band of ne'er-do-wells, eager to recover riches away deep inside alien skies, confronts an alien scientific outpost just as a peace conference is concluding on an alien world...setting the stage for conflict and tragedy, unless both sides are able to control the hotheads on either side of the border.
Soon, Captain Cook finds himself struggling to find his way back to Terra through uncharted skies, as the galaxy is descending into chaos.