I filmens novellering lär vi oss att kapplöpningen är ett koloniseringsfartyg som skickas från Drejs hemgalax till Vintergatan. De har för avsikt att använda den för att utrota alla biologerna i närheten, sedan inkubera ett mycket stort antal Drej för att fylla den (nu tomma) galaxen.
The basins holding the white dwarf were fashioned from energies whose properties could not be found naturally in the universe. They had been painstakingly worked out by the Drej over millennia while in their home galaxy—the plans for these properties, alas, had not been included in the matrix for the new ship from which Susquehana reigned.
The problem was that the Artifact had been damaged during the destruction of an early Drej colony. A suicidal pack of biologicals had blown up most of the planet to do so. The result had been less than they would have hoped, for the Artifact still functioned. But the Artifact had been damaged. The energy basins surrounding the white dwarf had become—for want of a better term—misaligned.
Unfortunately, Drej philosophy being what it was, no one had considered that the irreplaceable Artifact could ever be damaged. The Drej colonization project had been provided with a powerful Artifact, but no theory on repair or creation of new ones, since there would never be a need. And there was no way to contact home for repairs. The thought had apparently been that, without the theory, an enemy could never duplicate their greatest weapons.
Med Drejs kolonistålar förstörda, med eventuella återstående scout-fartyg som inte kan kontakta sin hemgalax utan betydande vapen och utan möjlighet att skapa ytterligare Drej, är New Earth (Planet Bob) säker och ljud under överskådlig framtid.