Alan was doing remarkably well in his courses. With some off-the-record help from their Systems Administrator, he finds he can make his way into secured data areas. When he does he finds secrets about his parents and crew that shock him, almost as much as the secrets he finds out about himself.

This is a novelette of an episode in Alan's life on Gordon's Lamp four years before he touches Kassidorian soil. It introduces the important members of the crew of Gordon's lamp. Also in this volume is a overview of the remainder of the series, a primer on the translation from Kassidorian (Preelklar) to English and the list of names found in the Second Expedition trilogy.