Space-traveling minstrels troll for gigs in places ''even Coltrane would be frightened of.''

Set in the 29th century, Strange Frame follows the interplanetary flying hunk-o-junk "The Lone Mango" as she hauls her musical crew to explore the brave new humanity wrought by hundreds of years of genetic engineering and bio-modification.

''So you thought the stars were yours? All you had to do was find a wormhole or wait for the aliens to show up and hand over the blueprints -- just a matter of time before you ruled the galaxy in your spiffy new ship.

Wrong.

You're trapped in a fishbowl without walls, falling endlessly around a flickering candle. No hokey hyper drives. No Federations or galactic empires. The speed of light chains everyone to the same star: Step too far away and the Long Dark will eat you alive.''