Max’s parents worked in and around Mars but were killed in an accident. Max grew up to become an asteroid recovery team leader (a rock jock). When we meet him in Book One he is assigned to the Dragonfly, one of several recovery vehicles attached to the Minotaur, an asteroid recovery space ship. These crews select metal-rich asteroids and then equip them with propellent and guidance to send them back to the Mars Orbital Smelting Array (MOSA) in orbit around Mars.

While recovering an asteroid, Max is injured and repaired by an alien (T’chell), equipping him with a prosthetic second skin. This repair comes with a number of surprising capabilities.