It is AD 2329 and humanity has colonized over four hundred planets, all interlinked by wormholes. With Earth at its centre, the Intersolar Commonwealth has grown into a quiet, wealthy society, where rejuvenation allows its citizens to live for centuries. When astronomer Dudley Bose observes a star over a thousand light years away vanish. Imprisoned inside a force field of immense size, the Commonwealth is anxious to discover what actually happened. As conventional wormholes can't reach that far, they must build the first faster-than-light starship. Captained by Wilson Kime, an ex-NASA astronaut a little too eager to relive his glory days, the Second Chance sets off on its historic voyage of discovery. But someone or something out there must have had a very good reason for sealing off an entire star system. And if the Second Change does manage to find a way in, what might then be let out?