Alien beetles with a communal intellect try to understand individuality. Genetic engineering tries to save the firefly from extinction, but not the way you'd expect. Smart cars drive the highways, and are a little too smart for their owners. An alien probe enters the solar system and a dozen human spaceships fight for the right to claim it, but it has no desire to be claimed. This is a book of short stories exploring man's place in the universe, on Earth and in space, where unexpected life forms greet us and strange events bemuse us. We don't know what we'll encounter as we discover new worlds and new technology, but here is a taste of what our future might offer, somewhere.
