Everyone is skeptical. Who is this guy who claims to be just an ordinary man? How did he come to possess such a ship? Just what is the deal here? Is the offer for real?
It is, but of course theres a catch; there is always a catch.
This is the story of that colony and what Charley did to earn it, what consequential task he undertook for an alien species that resulted in being rewarded with an entire planet. That part of the tale is not so pretty. It is also, however, a story about interstellar love, of the romance between Charley and the beautiful Clarity of Purpose, human but not of Earth. She, at least, is far more appealing.
Primarily, this is the story of one mans indomitable will and the consequences of his personal desperation. Possible annihilation of the human race was merely an unforeseen consequence.
That could not possibly happen, could it?
C. William Ochsenhirt has a technical background, particularly in computer science. He is the author of two non-science ction novels (as Charles William Ochsenhirt,) A Stitch of Integrity and All Along Down that Road. He currently lives in the Tampa Bay, Florida area.