mission to find his father. At the start of the story, Bart is preparing for a journey aboard a Lhari ship while grappling with his mixed heritage as the son of a Mentorian mother. He experiences a sense of urgency and panic when he realizes he may be in danger due to his family's past. Following a chaotic series of events at the spaceport, Bart encounters a stranger who claims to be his father, but it quickly becomes apparent that he is not who he seems. The opening sets the stage for Bart's struggles as he seeks to uncover the truth about his father while evading threats from the powerful Lhari, ultimately prompting Bart to assume a new identity in order to continue his quest and delve into the mysteries of the "Eighth Color." (This is an automatically generated summary.)