Book excerpt: Maverick Kane is seven years old when his pod crash-lands on Pocme; an alien planet full of life, but devoid of humans. Unable to get back to his home planet, Mars, Maverick finds himself growing up on the planet Pocme. His adoptive family loves him and treats him as one of their own, but the rest of the world is a different story. Despite Maverick's struggle to fit in, Pocme quickly becomes home to him. Even with both feet on the ground and a good home, though, the stars still call to him; waiting just out of reach. He's determined to become a starship captain in the Pocme Science Assembly when he grows up, but the chances of him staying out of trouble until then? Slim. Remarkably slim.