Absorption

Major Brett Johnson has pursued the hive mind Oceania across the galaxy. Not all his compatriots are as enthusiastic as he, since the Oceanian hive mind denies responsibility for the war crimes of the younger hive minds it helped create, and the humans on Oceania believe it, as do some of Brett's own people. A bloody war perceived as unnecessary could break apart the Federalist Worlds. The Oceanians claim unreasoning fear drives the campaign against them, so Brett must play a dangerous double game, trying to keep his individuality while joining the hive mind to prove fear doesn't control his side, while also gaining useful intelligence to make the almost inevitable war end more quickly. He falls in love with an Oceanian woman named Ariel who may already be part of the hive mind, and is determined to save her at any price.