Six thousand lightyears from Earth, the star-sun Sigma Albeth B has gone supernova. Five worlds were destroyed, including Seome. Millions died but twenty thousand survived, escaping through the Farpool to the oceans of Earth. Chase and Angie find themselves in the midst of unending conflict, between the water clans themselves and between the emigrants and their unwilling hosts on Earth. The Seomish ask Chase to become a leader and help them deal with their strange new home and the one-time beach bum becomes a sort of ambassador between two intelligences.
Through it all, Americans, Russians, Chinese and others clash over who will have access to the Seomish and their unique technology. A new UN agency is born: the Sea Council, to negotiate between the races. But the greatest threat of all is a menace that came through the Farpool unnoticed...a menace that future space-faring descendants of Humanity were fighting around the Sigma Albeth B system before that sun went supernova. Elements of the Coethi begin to show up in isolated places on Earth and only Chase realizes the danger...if the Seomish and the Humans can't cooperate to stop the Coethi, all Earth will be in danger.