Microbiologist Harvey Goodman has disappeared. It seems that the American space station RONALD REAGAN holds the answer, but pool-playing Commander Griffin is proving less than helpful. Diving deeper into a web of international double-dealing, Nathan smells a rat.

Exactly what happened to make a nuclear waste dumper launch abort? Is the Mafia alive and kicking in 2027? Will Nathan manage to survive being charged with murder?

'Knowledge is light.'

'Ignorance is darkness.'

Science must succeed. Nathan knows that. But when it means the loss of innocent lives, the Star Cops swing into action.

Can a martian really have been unearthed at last? With a freighter carrying the new discovery bound for Moonbase, it certainly seems that way. Suddenly the Star Cops find themselves caught up in a race for the scoop of the millennium. But the cost is high, and the body count is rising...