Prologue “DON’T TOUCH THE BUTTON.” The transmission was concise and clear from mission control. There was no static from the space receiver. Concise and clear. “DON’T TOUCH THE BUTTON.” It broke the silence and the loneliness felt from being far from home in the outer borders of the quadrant. All alone. There were only three thousand warships in view of the vid-screens to keep him company, poised with laser cannons and aiming in his direction. “DON’T TOUCH THE BUTTON.” The voice repeated the instruction. In just those words it said ‘you don’t know what you are doing. We are the experts and we will guide you through this.’ “DON’T TOUCH THE BUTTON.” The voice from high command had passed through millions of parsecs of space in a trillisecond to be with him. It was a voice of calmness. The four words said ‘do as we say and everything will be fine.’ The words seemed to implore him not to do the thing they thought he was thinking of doing because it was dangerous and besides, they didn’t think he knew what the hell he was doing. He didn’t. He wasn’t even supposed to be there. “DON’T TOUCH THE BUTTON.” Concise and clear. The tone was unmistakeable. The tone of a direct order from a senior officer. Cadet patrolman 908154BOGG pressed the button.