Search Worlds Without End

Fugitive from terror Captain Athalos Steldan knows too much. Now he's on the run from powerful forces who want him silenced. He illegally jumps ship on the planet Chirkun, plunging at once into a twilight underworld of vice in a last-ditch attempt to escape his attackers. But the Concordat Naval intelligence has strict orders to bring Steldan back - dead or alive. Headed by Lieutenant Ron Gray - and by Commander James Tyler, a professional assassin who can kill with a smile on his face - the forces converge on Steldan, driving him deeper into the nightmarish world of City-South.

There, among the devastation caused by a reactor fuel mega-blast, Steldan is cornered by a beautiful bounty hunter who comes to believe in him and his desperate mission to clear his name. But first Steldan must prove his innocence to the Concordat... and expose the top-level, multistrata conspiracy that hungers to obliterate him and his dangerous knowledge at any cost.

When an outlying region of star-systems revolts against the hub government, the Concordat of Archive responds in force, sending Admiral Devon to bring the rebels back into alignment. The Admiral wields his fleet with skill and daring, but everyone is left to wonder: who is the real enemy?

After the space battles and planetary bombardments were over, among the thousands of Missing In Action was the Concordat's Grand Amiral, commander of the battle fleet. Where was he? Captured by the enemy, or merely lost in the wreckage of war? Now, rumors begin to circulate: he may have been taken alive, and still in captivity. What is his legal status? What of his rank and office? The stakes are high, and the greatest delicacy is necessary to investigate this disturbing, destabilizing possibility.

Military Assassin James Tyler, unlicensed killer, is sent on a mission to slay the man who started a large nuclear war on a small planet. He travels through the ruins of civilization in pursuit of his prey, while, at the same time, he, too, is pursued by the forces of vengeance. The race is tight, and the stakes are as high as human morality itself.

The Star-Spanning Space Empire, the Concordat of Archive, is beset with wars abroad and turmoil within. Enemies threaten the far borders, and rogues and curs prey upon civilian commerce. The six-person ruling Praesidium, a committee of power and rule, tries to cope with the chaos. Can they exercise control without collapsing into tyranny? Is there hope, in this future? What kind of leaders should there be?

Four Free Traders in their battered old star-freighter are given a new, alien crewmember, who bears a different outlook on life. They find themselves exploring an ancient stellar outpost, a long-lost and long-forgotten installation in the middle of the interstellar outback. Their goal is simple salvage, with an eye to profit. The outpost, however, has plans of its own. As often has been borne out, exploring ancient ruins can be one of the most hazardous of activities.

A rag-tag team of starship merchants are hauled out of their free-trade freighter and conscripted to go out on a special mission: to kill all life on a distant planet. Murder on a global scale. And with no choice in the matter. They are saddled with a troupe of scientists who are to observe the cataclysm, and get caught up in debate and then intrigue. When everything that can go wrong, does go wrong, total confusion reigns.

The past and the future collide in a crisis of history: the Star-Bridging Empire of Archive is on the verge of collapse, and it's centuries-later descendant, the Concordat of Archive is equally unstable and threatened. Trillions of lives hang in the balance, and the fate of civilization itself. In each of these two epochs, the actions of lone individuals -- young and pretty Lyra, a selfish noble -- and Athalos Steldan, a crusading reformer -- will make all the difference. Sometimes, just one person can topple an empire.... or save it.