When Rab was a baby his mother made a decision which would change his life. She feared he
would be sent to work in the hellish mines of Mercury to eke out his life until he was worn
out all in the name of maintaning the defense of the Solar Sytem. But when her desperate
attempt to flee with her 2 year old failed she took a desperate step to save him. She cut off
his hand. Decades later Rab has been spared the physical hardships he can no longer endure
and is now based on the Mask the all-encompassing structure which hides the Solar Sytem from
alien eyes. And it is during his watch that a spaceship arrives one which has travelled for a
hundred years from a long-forgotten colony planet. If they pierce the Mask everything
humanity has created will be left open to the alien threat. But this strange ship bearing an
offshoot of the species may bring something else with them. Hope.
