It was an unsettling week for Paul Connors onboard the International Space Station. A shooting at his son's high school left the astronaut feeling he was safer in space than his son felt in the classroom. This revelation became all the more significant when at week's end Paul found himself inexplicably on the Moon and greeted by an alien seeking his support in bringing an end to violence on Earth. Paul Connors never imagined he would one day be spokesperson for humankind's first encounter with aliens. But he was also a responsible citizen of Earth, and fear over the aliens' intentions was fueling a worldwide crisis for which Paul felt responsible. But what to do? Could the alien plan really get humankind past its dependency on violence to solve its problems, or would it only serve to make matters worse? Most importantly, was world peace even a remote possibility? "e;It's so hard to help your child make sense of senselessness when you can't even do it for yourself."e;