Levas Crompton was the captain of the exploration Spacing Guild Ship Tharondelai. In 14701 AG on the farthest border of human space, he investigated a G-type star, Sutterer 4041, the fourth planet of which was comfortably within the star's eco-sphere. Members of the crew descended to the surface, and found the chief variation from human-optimal conditions to be relatively high percentage of water vapor in the atmosphere; otherwise, the planet seemed ideal for colonization.