Quofum

The mission to planet Quofum is supposed to be a quickie for Captain Boylan and his crew. Boylan is tasked with delivering four scientists—two men, one woman, and one thranx—to the unknown world, setting up camp while the experts investigate flora and fauna, then ferrying them safely home. The first surprise is that Quofum, which regularly slips in and out of existence on Commonwealth monitors, is actually there when Boylan and company arrive. The second surprise is more about what Quofum is not: The planet is not logical, ordered, or rational. The team encounters three intelligent, warring species—some carbon-based, others silicate-based, all bizarre—along with thousands of unique, often unclassifiable life-forms. Quofum's wild biodiversity doesn't appear to be natural. But if it is by design, then by whose, and for what purpose? There are more revelations, more highly evolved species waiting to be identified, even tantalizing clues to a civilization light-years ahead of the Commonwealth's. But the crew members are not ready for the real shockers, because none of them expect to find a killer in their midst, or to discover that their spaceship is missing and, with it, all means of communication. One thing the scientists do know, however, is how to ferret out the truth. But whether that will be enough to alter the course of the oncoming catastrophe is anyone's guess.