Setting: A ST/BSG/ME-esque near future where humans expanded out of our Solar system using technology left behind by a spacefaring civilization. This technology enabled humans to build warp-capable starships, but warp travel is only safe along strings - sort of warp highways established by the Precursor civilization. The tensions between "west" and "east" once again spiked, Earth was rendered uninhabitable and even though each of two factions holds a vast region of space, tensions are still high.

Summary: When returning from a long mission, an exploration ship Falcata finds itself in a battle with the Russian navy that ends with an accident that flings the ship far from explored space.

The crew must find a way home through unfamiliar space, filled with ruins of multiple civilizations on a similar technological level as humans as well as scattered enemy ships in a similar predicament. During their journey, they run into an alien entity responsible for the annihilation of the multiple human-level civilizations and possibly even the Precursors themselves, as the damage the crew finds on the Precursor ships and cities is similar to the damage they find in the human-level ships and cities. Now the need to come back home is even more urgent as they need to warn humanity and prepare for this threat, while not leading it to human space.

The crew discovers that the entity is just as limited by the strings as their own ship. In a final scuffle, they manage to damage the entity and flee, destroying the string, thus cutting the entity off and gaining a massive head start, finally managing to get home, only to find humanity once again locked in a war.

Device: Anchor: As every small child learned in school, the smooth sphere of the Anchor was always at the shortest line between the two stars. Together with its partner, the device created a completely empty and thus safe corridor for warp-speed travel. What the children didn't learn was how did the devices do that, because no one knew. At least no one who wasn't dead for thousands of years.

Creature: A tall, red-skinned biped with two strong arms each as thick as a tree trunk and capable of crushing a soldier in powered armor. A low forehead and large face gave the alien a rather stupid look, but its eyes hid cunning that in time, would send these creatures to the stars.

Ending: It's two hundred years after Falcata's return from the unknown space, and humanity is now united by fear of the outside enemy. Best scientists work on creating a defense against the entity. One day, the entity is spotted at the border of human space and the united human war fleet is dispatched. The battle is long and casualties are enormous, but humanity prevails. When investigating the hulk, scientists discover that the entity was built by the Precursors themselves. Apparently, it was one of many preemptive strike weapons designed to protect their unchallenged rule over the galaxy, but unable to protect them against the enemy from the outside.

The novel would end with a short chapter from the POV of the string network, warning a whole army of entities about human expansion and technological progress that could threaten masters.

Petr David

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