This book is the first in the Tristan Smith series. The series is comprised of six stories. Each of the first five books contains one secondary story. The sixth book contains the primary story that spans the first five books in the form of both introductions and conclusions. This creates a nested story format that binds the series together. The conclusion of each book ties it into the next one in the series with a mystery. The primary story is about a surprise attack on our Solar System and our struggles to save ourselves. The first four secondary stories, one for each of the first four books, are flash backs by Tristan Smith. There is one for each of his four tours of duty. The fifth is a trip to visit the alien home world where we refuse to share our technology resulting in the surprise attack of book six.