Two-time Hugo Award winner Allen Steele expands the universe of his Coyote saga with the story of Hex, a habitat the size of an entire solar system that could be a utopia—or nothing but a cosmic mirage…

The danui, a reclusive arachnid species, have avoided contact with the Coyote Federation—until now. Initiating trade negotiations, they offer only information: the coordinates for an unoccupied world suitable for human life—a massive sphere composed of billions of hexagons.

But when the Federation’s recon mission goes terribly wrong, the humans realize how little they know about their new partners…