Spindrift

June 1, 2288—Europe's first starship, the EASS Galileo, launches on its maiden voyage to venture into unexplored space. Its classified mission: investigate an unidentified, possibly alien object traveling outside our solar system, code-named Spindrift. Soon after taking off, the Galileo disappears...

February 1, 2344—A shuttle from the Galileo returns to Earth carrying three surviving expedition members. The Galileo has been destroyed, and the rest of the crew is lost—but the survivors have not aged. For they have indeed 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...