His mom engineered habitats for colonists on Mars and Europa. His dad ended a long war.

But 13-year-old Dax Zander spends his days surfing Kawela Bay with his brothers, hitching rides with whales and exploring the reefs around his family's undersea home. Life's sweet, the future is bright.

Then one morning in 2077, three aliens arrive pleading for humanity's help against a horrific threat to their distant oceanic homeworld. As Earth's leaders ponder a risky mission of mercy, Dax feels a stirring in his gut to leave behind childhood thrills and embrace a greater, but far more dangerous destiny amid the stars: preventing the extinction of an entire civilization.