Collapse Boundary

When the warning of the solar helium flash turned into the death knell of the cosmic broadcast, the new home that mankind spent two thousand years building on Proxima Centauri was waiting for the colonization fleet of the Galactic Empire. Should we hand over the blueprints of the stellar engine in exchange for a chance to survive, or should we ignite the fusion nuclear bomb buried in the asteroid belt and bet our last dignity on the survival of civilization? The exiled astrophysicist, the awakened artificial intelligence, and the female pirate who stole the imperial warship will redefine the meaning of "survival" in this showdown spanning light years.