A high-stakes space opera for fans of Becky Chambers, Arkady Martine, and Ann Leckie, Helix Falls follows a diplomat, an artificial being, a warrior, and a spy who stumble onto knowledge that could change first contact with a new alien species.

True is an emissary, able to transform into other species on command. She’s been sent on a recon mission to infiltrate and discover more about a new alien race before the official, scheduled First Contact. When the mission goes sideways, True finds herself trapped on Qwall, a distant Rim planet that’s being destroyed by two warring alien populations. Nat, a trained warrior also looking to escape Qwall, may be True’s only hope of getting out.

Aggie is a diplomat on a mission to stabilize the government of a faraway planet. When strange signals—or lack thereof—arrive from the direction of Qwall, she decides to investigate. Her assistant, an AGI (or synthetic being), also notices a distress signal from one of her kind from that same place. They hold precious information, meaning she must save them—or if she cannot, then destroy them before they fall into enemy hands.