Space is vast, mostly empty, extremely cold, very dangerous, and just generally a rotten place to travel.

But what if a spaceship out there had no passengers? Would it get lonely?

Would it go searching for new customers?

And what if...it found us?

This is the story of Flynn Hopper, a graduate assistant in astrophysics and a last-minute addition to a team making humanity's first trip to the outer planets. The expedition is privately funded...it employs a hazardous and technically unexplainable craft...and it may be just a bit illegal.

Who would go on such a thing? (That is, if it weren't for the cheap tickets and high potential for career-making discoveries.)

What adventures might a young crew member on such a mission fall into?

Who would he have to leave behind?

And what would he find there in outer space-or rather, what would find him?