Just when I thought I was safe from deportation, I wasn't. Earth wasn't looking to get rid of me. My homeworld wasn't trying to pull me back. But of course there is no force on Earth or Dlamias that is quite like the power of angry academics on the loneliest planet. The center of learning and the symbol of a peace and unity that was more fragile than anyone wanted to admit...and I... their student, had proved myself a disruptive element, shaking the table on which a delicate house of cards sat that might tumble at any moment. I had to prove my worth, the value of my work, and that adding a new species to the galactic chorus was a greater opportunity than it was a danger. But if you want the truth that lies at the heart of this volume, all I was really doing it for was to stay with my humans, the peace of the galaxy? Rising to the top of my field of study? To me, these things were merely icing on the cake. It may sound strange, but that's how you inevitably feel after you're adopted by humans. My one true regret... that I really had no idea what kind of allies were coming my way.