A special event: a novel of the Kevin Sorbo-starring series, by a high-visibility writer who helped shape the first two years of its run. The crew of the Andromeda Ascendant returns in this suspenseful second novel based on "Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda." Beka Valentine's brother is worthless, no good scum, and she doesn't want anything to do with him. That is, until the day he shows up to tell her that he has found their long-lost mother. If he'd arrived at any other time, Beka's captain Dylan Hunt would have been all for letting her search for her past. Unfortunately for Beka, her brother's announcement comes at a time when the Andromeda Ascendant is deeply tangled in delicate negotiations between a group of Nietzcheans and the Human Interplanetary Alliance. The problem is that the HIA seems on the verge of allying with a group of religious fanatics obsessed with genetic purity. Things get rapidly worse for Dylan when Beka sneaks off to try to find her mother. As if that wasn't enough, the rest of his crew soon starts taking sides in the negotiations. Before he knows it, he's facing an explosive situation that could turn into a bloodbath. To complicate matters further, Beka's quest parallels one taken by her mother years ago, and if Dylan doesn't stop her, she just might unwittingly unleash a technology that could end all life in the universe.