But the situation changes, when people gain a bleak chance to succeed — and show the Galaxy they aren't going to refuse of it, these Homo with a motto Death or Glory.
Everything changes when prospector Roman Savelyev (his personal blaster has the words "Death or Glory" engraved) finds a strange black box with a big red button in one of his mines.
Several days later, a giant starship suddenly appears and enters Volga's atmosphere to come to rest above the island where the box was found.
Not long after the races of the Alliance trace the heavy gravitational tracks of such a huge ship having penetrated the Barrier and showing up in orbit.
As it turns out, the ship selects the command structure based on the person who pressed the red button who becomes captain.
At the same time, Savelyev is attempting to figure out the ship's true nature, as he is the only one with unrestricted access to Volga's systems.
Savelyev speculates that it is either a product of some ancient race or of the galaxy itself to act as an antibody against invaders, in this case the Imperishables.
The three other novels which take place in the same universe are called Black Relay, Legacy of Giants, and No One but Us (the latter two are usually published together as War for Mobility).