Irene is now a commander in the Space Administration, based on Mars, but it is her experience with the xenobiology of Venus and geobiology of Mars that got her selected to command the two-year mission to AC4.

Astronomers on have been focused on an earth-like planet near Proxima Centuari — designated AC4 as the fourth planet identified in the Alpha Centauri cluster. Its year and day are only a little longer than ours, but it has three moons, the largest of which is about half the size of Earth's. It has a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere, large oceans and continents — and apparently forests.

The first signs of life outside the solar system.

But an upstart navigator makes contact with two forms of animal life that may affect the prospect of colonization — one due to its savageness, the other due to its intelligence — keeping his ‘explorations’ secret till tragedy strikes.

Klandor Rising brings together the first three novels of the Klandor Series (each named for a shuttle) into one volume, along with a new novelette: