The rules are simple: You must be gifted. You must be younger than twenty-five. You must be willing to accept the dangers that you will face if you win. Seventeen-year-old Cassandra Gupta's entire life has been leading up to this -- the opportunity to travel to space. But to secure a spot on this classified mission, she must first compete against the best and brightest people on the planet. People who are as determined as she to win a place on a journey...

A space voyager living her dream of exploring new worlds lands on a distant planet ripe for colonization before her discovery of a mysterious relic transforms her life and threatens the entire human race. During a routine survey mission on an uncolonized planet, Kira Navárez finds an alien relic. At first delighted, her elation turns to terror when the ancient dust around her begins to move. As war erupts among the stars, Kira is launched into a...