Set a millennium from now on Threshold Terminal-virtually a Grand Hotel in space- a young test pilot, Joe South, is thrust five hundred years into his future and finds himself in the thick of interstellar smuggling, intrigue, and the rough underworld of an alien environment.

In this freaky future world, Joe South is regarded as a relic, and no one wants to hear about his past or about the alien world he had visited during his mission. They even try to confiscate his ship. Now Joe knows he must take a stand. He must look for supporters.

His first opportunity comes from a crazy old scavenger called Keebler, who has found an alien artifact he believes will make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But when he brings it back to Threshold, customs officials instantly clamp a security net around him and his find. It is then that Joe realizes his temporary status on Threshold is fraught with danger and deception. For even the son of the wealthiest company chief in the solar system and the spoiled daughter of a powerful religious leader of the Muslim world of Medina were risking mortal peril just by daring to fall in love. Joe could hardly believe it, but this could create an interstellar incident that could push all the human-occupied worlds and space colonies into the long-dreaded war no one wants.