Earth is in the grip of the Great War. Territorial squabbles continue. Sixty years on, a promising but unreadable emission named SHGb02+14 was received, but Earth didn't have the correct lexicon, leaving the message unanswered.
A hundred years of relative obscurity; additional conflicts abound; a pandemic. Governments are hounded to fix it, but not at the expense of personal freedoms.
The Gowrie, Allison, Raer and Joce families are once again drawn to the Orion spur.