Beyond the antimatter barrier known as the Reef, the far-flung human colonies were dying out. Trade was decreasing, plagues ran rampant, societies had degenerated into mobs, and few ships were safe from raiders. Studying the decline of the transReef colonies and their chances for survival, computer prodigy Bass Cannon found that hope lay in only one direction: toward an alien world called Phastillan. The planet was home to a colony of psatla -- beings...