Cale works at the salvage yard in an asteroid belt called Tau 14. He is tracked down by Joseph Korso, captain of the spaceship Valkyrie. Korso reveals that Tucker encoded a map to the Titan in the ring he gave Cale. Tek tells Cale that humanity depends on finding the Titan. When the Drej attack the salvage yard, Cale escapes aboard the Valkyrie with Korso and his crew: Akima, a human female pilot, along with Preed, Gune, and Stith, aliens of various species.
