Writing to his mother from the depths of space, Heath finds himself in a school for the newest members of Galactic that follows a strict "no-tolerance" policy towards failure. His first test is to scrounge up a weapon and survive on a planet made from the junk of a thousand cultures, amidst the enraged, alien castaways from ruined worlds. The reward is a place on the fabled team, Galactic; the penalty for failure is death. Suddenly, the inner-city life Heath left behind doesn't seem so bad after all. The interplanetary crusaders who "saved" him from gang-related woes in the hard city see something in him that he himself doesn't notice yet -- the potential for heroism. But can he live up to his potential?