Arthur Pifflethorpe fell in love. He fell in love often and he fell in love hard. He fell in love with any pretty girl foolish enough to meet his gaze for an instant longer than necessary. What hope is there for a boy like Arthur, for whom loving comes so much easier than being loved?

Perhaps there was none until the day he got the call. Armagast Enterprises had selected its crew for the Argo, and Arthur was among the chosen few. All of humanity had watched as the mysterious spacecraft was born. For a decade or more, rumors over its purpose had swirled as the Argo plied its obit through the night skies, growing in size and brightness with each new fusillade of supply rockets to go roaring skyward. Now they all knew: the Argo was setting off on a multi-generational voyage to colonize the universe. The journey would see the Argonauts—and their children, and their children’s children—drifting through the black void of interstellar space for thousands of years.

What future is that for a slightly above-average boy from a decaying little backwater whose only aspiration is to find his one true love? What future would there be in staying behind?