Through three centuries of interstellar travel, intelligent alien life- forms had never been encountered . . . until now.<br><br>When a scientific team exploring an obscure planet fails to make its regular communications check, the Marines of third platoon are sent to investigate. They prepare for a routine rescue operation, but what they find on Society 437 is a horror beyond description. Only a handful of ragtag pirates who were in the wrong place at the very worst time have survived, and there is little trace of the scientists.<br><br>What happened to the scientists? Why have the pirates been spared?  <br>Gunnery Sergeant Bass and the men of third platoon are about to find out, <br>and the answer carries a terrifying implication for the Marines--and the entire human race.