Nicholas Seafort is a seventeen-year-old midshipman who boards the UNS Hibernia on his first space assignment, a three-year interstellar voyage to the colonies of Hope Nation and Detour.
A disastrous rescue of a passenger injured while sightseeing on the wreck of another ship results in the deaths of Captain Haag and his two senior lieutenants, elevating Malstrom to the captaincy and Seafort to second-in-command of Hibernia.
Seafort leads a boarding party to investigate and, to his horror, encounters a strange alien life form resembling an amoeba in the ship's corridor.
The squadron is attacked by Fish that board Portia, releasing their lethal virus into the ship and killing dozens of her crew and passengers, including Seafort's baby son.
Seafort is transferred to the ship and is left alone, save for passengers and crew that Tremaine hates, including the transpops, and abandoned in space.
After overcoming a mutiny, Seafort sets about preparing Challenger for an eighty-year voyage back to Earth, conscripting passengers into the Naval Service and scavenging from the wrecked sections of the ship.
In the aftermath of the voyage, Seafort meets his father at a naval base on the moon, and is given command of his old ship, Hibernia, to return to Hope Nation.
The admiral in charge of the United Nations fleet in the sector makes a bargain with Seafort: due to his supposed good relations with some of the planters, he can meet with and report on what their grievances are and attempt to allay them.
Additionally, Seafort marries the former transient Annie Wells, but is left feeling betrayed when she has what she considers a meaningless sexual encounter with an old friend.
Seafort must avert the rebellion while dealing with his wounds, both mental and physical, and lead the colonists against the space invaders, who have begun to attack not just the fleets in orbit but also the planet.
Seafort must assume command of Vax's old ship, with a crew who do not trust him (blaming him for their captain's death), passengers who do not like him (including Annie, who has been driven insane after an attempted rape by criminals on Hope Nation; Alexi with his amnesia; and Jarence Branstead, who is a potential goofjuice addict) as well as wrestling with his own sense of justice, which he feels demands his death for his failures.
Reaching Earth, Seafort finds that the ban on nuclear weapons has been lifted due to repeated attacks by the Fish, and his actions are deemed laudable by the navy.
In contrast, Nick and Arlene have raised their son to military standards of hygiene, morality, and behavior, although not encouraging him to follow them into the Navy.
During the course of preparing for one of these excursions, Captain Seafort discovers Jared spying on a private conversation that a visitor is having, in the hopes of selling the information to a newspaper.
Chang, who has recently started taking a young rebellious tranny named pook under his wing, decides to try and visit Captain Seafort to rally support.
Pedro Chang, acting as mediator, arranges for various tranny tribes to try to work together to fight the UN government from pushing them out of their territory.
Captain Seafort, who had sought out the Subs needing their help to find his son, and Jared, reluctantly agrees when Pedro Chang informs him that the Parka tribe are viewed as almost sub-human by most other tranny groups, due to cannibalism.
Published in 1999,[4] the book is set approximate 10 years after the events of Voices of Hope Decades after what has since become known as the trans-pop rebellion, Seafort remains unhappy with his position as secretary-general of the United Nations, despite the fact that he feels he can trust no one else to do what he must.
Well accepting this award Seafort has been enjoying the company of his old friend Derek carr, now head of the government of Hope nation, who has returned to Earth to negotiate trade deals.
They feel the captain needs to crack down on the independence of the colonies, to ensure that Earth remains Paramount in the universe, and that the patriarchs do not lose any income.
Philip has grown to manhood and is in a semi-committed relationship with Jared Tenere, who has achieved mental stability thanks to hormone treatments and the parenting of Robbie Boland.
This wake up call galvanizes Seafort into altering his political agenda, to help try and cut back on industry to save the world's ecosystems.
Surviving another terrorist attack at his own home, from a mole that has been planted among his security, Seafort finds that he is no longer safe even in his own house.
With the assistance of the midshipman and cadet who accompanied him into space, Mikhail tamarov who refused to be left behind, Arlene and Derek who agreed to be reenlisted as lieutenants, his son Philip and Jared who had come to visit him in hospital, Seafort smuggles his way onto the galactic.
Well this is happening, Jeffrey Thorne and Edgar tolliver have agreed to assist seaport in attempting to recapture the massive laser installation at Lunapolis.
Finding himself unable to ever return to Earth again because of the Drastic damage his spine has suffered, Seafort languishes until he agrees to take command of the olympiad, galactic's sister ship.
He reluctantly agrees because he realizes that even if he retires from politics, his mere existence in home system will forever place him at the forefront of every decision that is made, granting him no peace.
Additionally his wife Arlene had frozen eggs before she died, and Seafort intends to keep the promise he made to her he will have another child, using a host mother.
The seventh book is set several years after the events of Patriarch's Hope and was the last in the series to be published before the death of author David Feintuch.
The manuscript was reported[8] to be completed before the death of author David Feintuch;[9] however, Orbit UK has no current plans to publish this book.