Thomas Barnes, fresh out of interstellar cold-sleep, walked out of the alien starship a new man. An entirely new man. He'd had fifty years wiped off his calendar simply for agreeing to be a guinea pig for the aliens' frightfully expensive rejuvenation project, a business that they hoped would make trade between their worlds and Earth worthwhile. But there was a slight problem: The elderly lead scientist for the project was supposed to be on the ship, and was to live with him for three months to make sure nothing went wrong. But in her place was a young intern, terribly sick---and stinking to high heaven. Soon they would find themselves fighting for their lives against an unknown enemy that seemed determined to see the project fail. And the harder they fought, the worse things got!