Astronaut Rae Anne Chavez' rescue from Saturn orbit by the alien battlecruiser Avenger initiates First Contact between Humans and Shalcerians. Rae Anne becomes their obvious choice to serve as their liaison to Earth. The Shalcerians offer to share their advanced technology to save humanity from the ravages of climate change, but their accompanying demands create rifts across Earth's geopolitical spectrum. Worldwide protests, in turn, bring out the alien's darker side. Rae Anne is torn between her desire for Humans to accept Shalcerian technology and her commitment to preserve humanity's freedom. Can she devise a course that achieves cooperation with the aliens while avoiding imperial domination by an interstellar empire? With unintended consequences and hidden agendas, First Contact may not be all it seems to be.