A millennium after world war extinction destroyed the surface of Earth, humanity resurfaced and rebuilt a new world.A world much different than the old. Mars has been terraforming for decades, and a fleet of human starships stand poised to begin the exploration and colonization of the cosmos. Then an ancient message arrives, picked up by the Martian base at Olympus Mons. The transmission sends shock waves through Interstellar Fleet Command.A message that changes everything.The transmission seems to have originated from humanity's first interstellar starship: the Magellan ll. A legendary ark-ship that was launched before most of humanity was incinerated when World War X consumed the blue planet. As with most legends of pre-apocalyptic Earth, stories of the Magellan II are considered little more than myth. Many doubt it ever existed at all.A glimmer of hope from the depths of the universe.Interstellar Fleet Command sends its most advanced starship 1,187 light-years to investigate. When that ship disappears without a trace, her sister ship, the Endeavor, heads out on a rescue mission. The crew tracks the missing ship to a watery world called Aqueous as it orbits a red dwarf star. What they find upon arrival is a deadly planet that belies its beautiful appearance, inhabited by dangerous reptiles, hostile aliens, dragons...And a long-lost human colony.