Once a colony ship had left Earth it could not be recalled or even contacted. The fate of these vessels and their passengers remained a tantalizing mystery to those who stayed at home. Ths mission of the scientific recontact ship Daedalus was to go out ther and discover what happened - and to help the colonists if ther developing worlds were in difficulties. This is the account of the first flight of the Daedalus and its crew of seven. On the world of the Florian they did indeed find a planet in trouble - but the inhabitants refused to admit it.