Confluence: A vast, ancient, artificial world orbiting a star beyond the edge of the galaxy. Confluence: Home to thousands of alien races, shaped and raised to intelligence by the Preservers, godlike descendants of humanity who long ago disappeared into a vast black hole. Confluence: Abandoned by its creators, a stagnant civilization now threatened by the appearance of a small band of humans, returning survivors of a millions-years-old expedition to a neighboring galaxy. It is into…