Search Worlds Without End

Four people uncover a secret that has the power to shake the foundation of faith as we know it.

Reverend Joshua Barker feels that it is his duty to bring the Word to the oppressed beings on alien worlds, to teach them to repent their sins and cherish the teachings of the Good Book. It's a noble ambition... until he discovers something that challenges his understanding of everything he believes.

Barker's heretical discovery is buried for centuries until Anita Inkle digs it up and rekindles her sense of hope. Thomas, her husband, will grasp at any straw if it will save his dying wife, even a straw that may have unseen consequences affecting not merely Anita, but every member of the race.

It remains for Gar Matthews, a professional iconoclast, a man with a mission to poke holes in every outrageous claim and story that comes his way, to uncover a truth that no one ever suspected, and to give a very special meaning to it.

Each of the four will be forever affected by the secret - as will every sentient being in the galaxy.

When Keelarah, Lead Interrogator in the Neuropsych subdivision of the Cartheeli Military Caste, first meets the alien, she is prepared to do her duty. He is a trespasser on her planet, has caused the death of someone dear to her, and it is imperative she find out where he's come from and whether his kind poses a threat to her and her people. Often ruthless in her techniques, the interrogator uses her telepathic and empathic abilities to assault his mind, to draw out any whisper of information that can give them a better idea of what - who - they are dealing with.

But she isn't prepared for the prisoner to defend himself with comparable talents, to disarm her with equally astute observations. Chief Surveyor Forrest Brown might not be the best example of humanity, but he doesn't have to be to show Keelarah what it is to be humane. As they get to know each other, the line between captor and prisoner blur, which begs the question: is having different origins a more important factor, or the ability to find common ground? What if mutual alienation leads to the most profound bond of all?