Aaron Schoenfeld has parlayed a Ph.D. in the philosophy of
science and a sharp tongue into an improbable second
career as the director of a project designed to plan and
execute the first interstellar voyage, a trip to Alpha
Centauri, which could take many years and might end up
being a one-way journey for the crew. Jack Lumet, his near
contemporary, in his late sixties and a lifelong student
of anthropology with an enduring fascination for the
history and myths of Native Americans, once wrote a paper
that implied the existence of a two-way current between
the stars referred to in legend by one of the great
prophets of the Iroquois.
In a world where money for space journeys is hard to come
by, even a slightly mad theory that suggests a possible
shortcut to the stars is an attractive possibility for the
people who believe more in man's destiny among the stars
than they do in safety considerations, minimal risks, or
taking no for an answer. By political intrigue and some
fast talking, the first interstellar ship is launched from
Mars by the U.S. government just a few decades from now.
The idealistic, multitalented crew makes a very risky
space voyage to the enarest star system—and finds
themselves able, or perhaps doomed, to do the impossible—
return before they left. Thus begins one of the more
eccentric and entertaining science fiction voyages of
recent literature.
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