June 1, 2288 - Europe's first starship, the EASS Galileo, launches on its maiden voyage to venture into unexplored space. Its classified mission: to investigate an unidentified object, code-named Spindrift, which is traveling outside our solar system. An object that may be alien in origin. The Galileo disappears soon after taking off ...February 1, 2344 - The Galileo's shuttle, the Maria Celeste, returns to Earth carrying three surviving expedition members and retrofitted with an advanced drive system. The Galileo has been destroyed and the rest of the crew is lost, but the survivors still appear to be the same age they were when they departed. What they report is even more disturbing. They have made contact with an extraterrestrial race and become enmeshed in a conflict that brought them face-to-face with the most apocalyptic force in the galaxy.It is up to Director General John Shillinglaw to piece together the puzzle created by these events - for the survivors tell their stories from their own conflicting perspectives. And the truth is more difficult to gleam than it appears. Read Less