In pursuit of lost secrets.

General Okto-Bar had been a man of battle, but had found his true calling at Alpha Station. He had found a fascination and an odd sort of peace in managing the goings-on of the vast station, and he had done so ably for the last four years. He had grown fond of the aliens who, like him, called this place "home," and had made friendships among their number that would last a lifetime. The thought of peril to them, to his fellow humans, to this station that for centuries had stood as a beacon of harmonious interaction and interspecies goodwill and cooperation—it was unacceptable.

He had anticipated, with good reason, that if he continued to smoothly manage the day-to-day troubles of so enormous a collection of beings, he would be rewarded with a promotion to commander of the place he loved. But Commander Arun Filitt had always been a more immediately arresting figure, and when it was time for Filitt's superiors to give him something to do, Filitt had been given the command of Alpha Statio