Season 97 of Battle of the Bands is over.
But when the encore ends and the lights go out, Jude’s mission remains, more urgent than ever: find New Earth. Before the human colonies, facing quiet extinction one decommissioned station at a time, give their final bow.
In the week since Evergreen helped stop an incursion of AI-powered ghost ships, the Federation has decided it either hates Jude’s band, or loves them. With fans for allies and enemies intent on squashing his message by any means necessary, Jude turns to the enigmatic President Ede to support his expedition to find the mythical Green Place in his visions, even if it means being embroiled in politics way above his pay grade.
But it turns out launching isn’t half the battle.
The storm hiding New Earth is changing, and so is Jude’s music. Suddenly visionless, he can’t find a heading, and he can’t turn back, not with his band and his crew and the colonies all counting on him to pen the song that will restore his visions and lead them home. If the song is actually his at all.
Meanwhile the real threat to humanity lurks in the wings, tunes its strings, and prepares to take center stage.