Apes and Angels (The Grand Tour Book 23)

Apes and Angels is the second book in the Star Quest Trilogy, following Death Wave. The novel chronicles humanity's expansion beyond the solar system in the far future. Humankind ventured to the stars to save intelligent life wherever it could be found. A wave of lethal gamma radiation, originating from the galaxy's core twenty-eight thousand years ago, is spreading through the Milky Way at the speed of light, destroying all life on every world it reaches. While Earth has been protected from this Death Wave, other inhabited worlds remain vulnerable. Guided by the Predecessors—ancient intelligent machines—crews from Earth search for rare worlds harboring intelligent species to save them from the approaching radiation. The crew of the Odysseus arrives at Mithra Gamma, the third planet of the star Mithra, to protect its stone-age inhabitants from the Death Wave, while also ensuring their own survival.