2088 Earth is ready to explore beyond its solar system. But is it prepared for what it might find? Astrophysicist Reggie Straifer has discovered an anomalous star that appears to defy the laws of physics. A deepspace mission is proposed to determine whether it is a weird natural phenomenon, or something more alien. But this journey will take aeons to complete. In order to maintain the genetic talent of the original crew, the mission is undertaken by clones. But these men and women born again into a thousand new lives aren't perfect copies, and each new generation aboard the nine ships must work to live in harmony and advance the mission it was born for: to reach the mysterious star, and understand what might lie beyond the limits of human knowledge and imagination.