The gigantic craft Phoenix, the greatest technological achievement by humanity, is en route to nu Phoenicis, a star some 26 light years from Earth that has at least two oxygen-water planets. On board are 1,500 of Earth's best and brightest, a vast library that contains nearly all of human knowledge, a DNA library, and an Imprinter, from which nearly anything can be made as long as the raw materials are at hand. But nobody said it was going to be easy...and it wasn't. The Universe holds many surprises, especially the ones we already know about!