Beacon of the Gods — Robert Merritt

Three human civilizations in the galaxy have combined to form the Star Union. The three branches of the human family discover that they share a common interest in the star Deneb. The members of the Star Union possess folktales that are eerily similar despite the distance between the three star systems. Shortly after the union of the three societies, unidentified signals were detected from the Deneb region. An exploratory vessel was sent to investigate the origins of these transmissions. The expedition reported its safe arrival, then vanished. Now, almost a century later, new evidence has surfaced that reopens the concern about the events surrounding the missing expedition. A robotic scout sent to the Deneb star system has suddenly gone silent, so the Star Patrol dispatches a survey vessel to uncover the fate of the scout and the missing explorers. Will this investigation of the mystery in a new area of the galaxy reveal a bright future for the Star Union, or a warning of an impending shared fate?