Humanity is near the tail end of an intergalactic war with an alien race called the Bect — a war we are losing. The only thing we have in shorter supply than combat pilots is hope.

After a rough skirmish, a strange object is picked up by the United Earth carrier Ticonderoga. Within the object, the ship's scientists find something even stranger: a man, cryogenically frozen and shot into space more than 300 years ago. The fact that he's still technically alive raises questions of Fate's hand in life and war.