In the 300 years after defeating the Thandol Empire, Mirikami formed the Galactic Police Force. It isn’t a cop-on-the-corner force. The GPF is paramilitary with naval assets, patrolling the Federation and the former Empire. The GPF guards against threats by the old Empire’s most aggressive species.

A murderous Finth pack is secretly mining rare earth minerals on a clueless new Carbola colony, selling via intermediaries to the Planetary Union. The minerals maintain Kobani superconducting physiology for the transformed PU citizens. Controlling the supply, the Finth intend to provoke a war between the PU and their Federation competitor. Both need rare elements for their populations. A Federation distracted by war would allow the Finth to carve a new empire from the old fragments. To keep mineral thefts secret, Carbola miners die nightly in the jaws and claws of Finth Hunter-Killer packs, simulating wild animal attacks out of the unexplored wilderness. When unexpected help arrives, it looks more terrifying than the problem.

A Thandol emperor of one their factions enslaved a nearby species. Stewart Macdougal, a retired Federation president, vanished on a mission to investigate the reports. The Olt’kitapi reveal that he’s missing to Mirikami and innocently describe how they know precisely where he is. The embedded Kobani Comtap communicators, based on an Olt’kitapi design, has a hitherto unknown tracking capability. Stewart’s life is in imminent danger, forcing Mirikami and Maggi to immediately rush to the rescue. Things don’t go as planned, but the fireworks are impressive.

Challenges continue for the GPF. The Thack Delos reveal new technology after they draw Mirikami and Ambassador Fisher into a trap. Tired of paying reparations for nuclear weapons used in the last war, the Thack Delos can void the contract only if the negotiators are dead. A Kobani lives too damned long, but there’s a simple cure!

A peaceful visit by a GPF contact team to a species named the Corelians goes horribly awry. Before humans even left their home system, a radio broadcast to the galaxy at-large by the distant aliens proved there was life elsewhere. Faster Jump travel made a visit practical, if not welcome. The downy furred little aliens went berserk at first contact.

Finally, the Silha, an ancient elevated species, make an offer to the Olt’kitapi and the Kobani, to open up an immense region of space to them. Instant wormhole travel to 10,000 galaxies of a supercluster, provided they support a “little” project. The Olt’kitapi are to build multispecies habitats in each galaxy, and the GPF to provide protection from hostiles. Its exploration and adventure the Kobani can’t resist. There’s an initial scouting trip to Andromeda, using five new identical ships the Silha somehow replicates. But who knew Andromeda was so well organized? Three dominant species control everything, and they don’t want intruders. The great adventure is ending in disaster before it starts. Pulling rabbits out of an empty hat is the least of Mirikami’s problem. He’s trying to survive the day, and there are a million ways to fail.