The first story in the universe-spanning Mortal Passage trilogy...

Challenged to write a hard SF story set in a real universe where humanity faces every challenge-- the speed of light can't be broken, life is rare in the universe, and the Earth is hit hard by disaster after disaster-- the author of The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect dreamed up this story.

Around 5,500 words, these stories have long been available to read online, but now you can enjoy them freshly reformatted for your favorite device.

Note: This story is also collected in The Mortal Passage Trilogy.