The Alpha Physics Enterprise has grown and evolved in its scope and charter. It has embraced the ultimate in globalization and off-shoring. I guess it should be called galaxization and off-planeting. This move also warrants a brand new name for their Beta Physics Enterprise. Well... kind of a change – interstellar travel deserves another step up the Greek alphabet, plus BPE sounds much better than APE.
The quest is for a new home planet amongst the fabulous clouds of the Orion Nebula, over a thousand light years away. A small team of Vertex Riders continue to pioneer the galaxy for planets just the right size (what they call Goldilocks planets) to plant another hop point to the next one; all the time having to get their building materials from Mother Earth.
The quest is for Goldilocks planets... but also for life. Rather than just listening for unnatural radio activity from Earth, they can finally go out and look around. A little side trip from the Orion mission opens discoveries that change everything. The disappointing quest for life gets a new boost.