The Lunar Free State has grown in the decade since Ian Stevens and his people first established themselves on the Moon. Its population is still small compared with most Earth nations; but out beyond Earth orbit, the LFS is a force to be reckoned with, an economic giant, and the dominant military presence in space. But something is about to happen that will change our view of the universe, and the LFS will find itself locked in a struggle for the survival of the human race in the Solar System. In the course of that struggle, the "Moonies" will find an unlikely ally and get their first hints of a galactic mystery surrounding the origin of the human species.