Flynn “Red” Clarke is training as a translator for negotiations between Earth and a newly discovered alien race. On NorthPoint Station, the only link to the alien homeworld, he quickly finds a new friend in his playful alien counterpart as they perfect their touch-signing under the watchful eyes of the fearful Masters. Together with the translation team, they must tame a terrifying force that separates humans and aliens, to ease tensions between the misinformation-riddled Earth and a skeptical alien race. And what about the Olmas, builders of NorthPoint Station and the wealthiest men in the Solar System? Is it all sweaty man-on-man fun in zero-G or is there a happy ending for Flynn in the offworld community of spacers and aliens?