Description:

When John Bandicut sets out across the surface of Triton, he's hardly ready for the storm of chaos that's about to blow through his life. The alien quarx that soon inhabits his mind is humanity's first contact with an alien life. The quarx, part of an ancient galactic civilization that manipulates chaos theory to predict catastrophic events, seeks to prevent a cometary collision that could destroy the Earth. But it must have help. If Bandicut chooses to trust the quarx, he must break all the rules--indeed, sacrifice his life as he knows it--to prevent humanity's greatest cataclysm. Leaving friends and lover behind, hurtling across the solar system in a stolen spaceship, Bandicut can only pray that his actions will save the Earth--even if he doesn't live to see it again. From the Nebula-nominated author of Eternity's End.

From Publishers Weekly

In this promising series kickoff about an astronaut exploring the surface of Neptune's moon, Triton, Carver ( Dragons in the Stars ) masterfully captures the joy of exploration, although the story itself follows a fairly standard save-the-world plot. Pilot John Bandicut has been cut off from his internal link to the "datanet" by faulty technology, leaving him subject to maddening "silence-fugues." His need for contact makes him a perfect candidate for a symbiotic relationship with the alien quarx, who are trying to save humanity from a mysterious disaster threatening Earth. The quarx, creations whose understanding of Terran culture comes mostly from monitoring old TV and radio programs, have a certain gee-whiz quality, although their interactions with the datanet are intriguing. A rather adolescent love story combines amusingly with an unlikely case of xenophobia, and a fiery conclusion sets Bandicut up for further adventures in yet another alien world, where Carver may find greater room to employ his gift for the fine rendering of difficult scientific concepts.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Attached to a research and mining project on Triton, John Bandicut becomes the reluctant "host" of an alien mind who needs him as a vehicle to save Earth from a cosmic catastrophe. The author of Dragons in the Stars (Tor Bks., 1992) and The Infinity Link (Bluejay Bks., 1984) excels at exuberant storytelling as he explores the very real day-to-day problems of playing host to an internal guest. Hard-science aficionados will delight in the story's focus on chaos theory; general sf fans will appreciate the adventure and mood. A good purchase for most libraries.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.