Christina Vasa becomes a member of Spacefleet's Extended Life Brigade. Her mission is double: fight the Militia (a terrorist organization of misguided religious fanatics opposed to scientific advances in general, in particular, the genetic engineering that makes extended life possible), and explore the galaxy for possible colony planets and for intelligent life forms. In her adventures in other worlds, Christina will face death several times, will be charged with capital crimes, and will take part in the discovery of new worlds on which millions of Earth people will establish cities and farms. She will discover rich new worlds of biology, also, worlds in which evolution has gone down different paths than it had taken on Earth. Some of these encounters will prove to be terrifying, even life-threatening: a deadly virus, fierce jellyfish-like creatures that hunt in packs, flying creatures that devour their victims' flesh within minutes. With her crew she will fight the vicious members of the Militia, although final victory seems out of reach. But why is she arrested on Mars after returning as a hero from a successful expedition against the Militia on Mesnos? She will finally pass through a wormhole to reach the spiral arm on the far side of the galaxy. There, at last, she will encounter the Damosians, a civilization of intelligent beings descended from warm-blooded lizards. Will this encounter be peaceful or menacing? How will people of radically different cultures and languages be able to communicate? Will the dreaded Schadite Tactical Units succeed in destroying the great ship Constellation? If they return to Earth, how will the people there accept these extra-terrestrials?