Neil Armstrong Andrews wins the largest lottery in history. He uses that money to build with others a spacecraft to go into deep space recruiting several crackpots as the normal people called" the scientists" to design and make possible a ship going faster than light.
Combining with other governments willing to risk resources on this project using his money and theirs, he gets the ship built, but they were reluctant to name him Captain after learning he spent time in prison. Finally a compromise was reached whereas he was Captain but only with authority to tell them where to go. Actual Command was vested in the one eyed tough displinarian, Commander Janice much to the dismay of the Cheif Engineer, Boris who thought he should be the Captain. Problems insue immediately for Neil but he learns to get along with the Commander getting her to side with him on major decisions.
When the Marauder actually does go faster than light much to the dismay of several naysayers, Neil finds them over ten thousand light years from Earth.
Inadvertently they visited a debris field from a battlefield of the Aliens. The Wispees, whose territory it was demanded compensation for the violation. Namely, the Marauder and it's crew to become slaves or food!
Neil pulls a daring escape saving their lives and in the process takes several Aliens with them. The crew after learning of what he did to save them became loyal to him from that point on.
Faced with a choice of going out the airlock or joining the crew, the Aliens decide to become crew members until he could return them to Asazakala. Using an Alien weapon taken from the debris field, the Marauder becomes an armed ship after leaving Earth as a unarmed ship. The battles with the Wispees begin that nearly destroys the ship a second time. The adventure continues!