Search Worlds Without End

The Year is 2040.

The Marines have landed on Mars to guard the unearthed secrets of an ancient and dangerous alien race: Ourselves.

Scientists have discovered something astonishing in the subterranean ruins of a sprawling Martian city: startling evidence of an alternative history that threatens to split humanity into opposing factions and plunge the Earth into chaos and war. The USMC -- a branch of a military considered, until just recently, to be obsolete -- has dispatched the Marine Mars Expeditionary Force, a thirty-man weapons platoon, to the Red Planet to protect American civilians and interest with lethal force if necessary.

Because great powers are willing to devastate a world in order to keep an ancient secret buried. Because something that was hidden in the Martian dust for half a million years has just been unearthed . . . something that calls into question every belief that forms the delicate foundation of civilization . . .

Something inexplicably human.

The revelations on Mars -- a half-million year-old legacy of the vanished star-traveling Builders -- have fed the flames of catastrophic war. A beleaguered United States and its Russian and Japanese allies struggle to hold their own against the indomitable forces of the enemy United Nations. The bloody conflict that has swept over the home planet now rages across the blackness of space -- with the U.S. Marine Corps in the vanguard, leading the charge as always.

But Mars is not the sole repository of alien wonders. The Earth's moon hides unsettling mysteries of its own-and dangerous secrets pointing toward an unstoppable threat advancing from somewhere beyond the solar system. And as scientists on both sides ract to utilize technology they have only barely begun to comprehend, the UN makes the opening move in a gambit that could end the hostilities quickly and decisively by bringing about the death of millions...without the aid of alien-inspired weaponry.

A bad situation worsens by the nanosecond. And that means it's time to call in the Marines -- to make a life or death stand on the gray shores of Luna.

2040: Ruins of ancient civilization uncovered on Mars reveal startling truths about the creation of humankind.

2042: In the gray dust of the Earth's Moon, an extinct enslaving race left behind more answers, more questions...and a grim warning.

2067: As Earth's warring factions clash in space for scraps of alien technology, a strange artifact lies trapped beneath the ice-locked oceans of Europa: a machine that holds the key to the final human destiny.

It is called "The Singer" for the eerie tone it emits.An artificial intelligence built eons ago, it may ultimately solve the mystery of the vanished alien races responsible for the birth and development of humanity. But after decades of war, the hostile nations of Earth care more for power than for knowledge. And now all that stands between the coveted Al and an all-out Chinese assault is a vastly outnumbered contingent of U.S. marines, dug in beneath the baleful red eye of Jupiter. As terrifying events light years distant begin to converge---with confrontation imminent and annihilation inevitable---a secret history of creation and doom must at long last be contended with...if humankind is to finally claim its glorious heritage among the stars.

Planet by planet, galaxy by galaxy, the inhabited universe has fallen to the alien Xul...

Now only one obstacle stands between them and total domination: the warriors of a resilient race the world-devourers nearly annihilated centuries ago...

A power vast, ancient, and terrifying, the mighty Xul have lost track of the insignificant humans hundreds of years after devastating their home world--which has enabled the United Star Marines to operate unnoticed and unhindered. A near-autonomous intergalactic policing force, they battle in defense of an Earth they may not live to see again. Now, following the trail of a vanished twenty-fourth-century transport, they are journeying through an unexplored stargate to the edge of an unknown galaxy many light years from their sun. For the last, best, and only chance to defeat the tyrants of the universe may at long last be at hand...

War is forever

The people on Earth no longer remember how the human race was nearly obliterated centuries earlier during the terror visited upon them by the merciless Xul. But the Star Marines, thirty thousand light years from home, know all too well the horror that still lives.

In the year 2886, in the midst of the intergalactic war that has been raging non-stop for nearly a decade, the unthinkable has occurred. Intelligence has located the gargantuan hidden homeworld of humankind's dedicated foe, the brutal, unstoppable Xul.

The time has come for the courageous men and women of the 1st Marine Interstellar Expeditionary Force to strike the killing blow. But misguided politics on an Earth that no longer supports their mission could prove the Marine's greatest enemy--as they plunge bravely into the maelstrom of conflict... and into the heart of a million-year-old mystery.

The final conflict has arrived...

Chaos has erupted throughout the known galaxy, threatening countless colonies and orbital habitats--as the Associative struggles vainly to keep the peace. Extreme measures are called for in these times of dire crisis, and the Star Marines are awakened from their voluntary 850-year cybe-hibe sleep. But General Trevor Garroway and his warriors are about to discover that the old rules of engagement have drastically changed...

The end begins with an old-style assault on rebels at the Tarantula Stargate. But true terror looms at the edges of known reality. Humankind's eternal enemy--the brutal, unstoppable Xul--approaches, wielding a weapon monstrous beyond imagining. Suddenly not only is the future in jeopardy, but the past is as well--and if the Marines fail to eliminate their relentless xenophobic foe once and for all, the Great Annihilator will obliterate every last trace of human existence.

In the future,
earth's warriors have
conquered the heavens.

But on a distant world,
Humanity is in chains...

Many millennia ago, the human race was enslaved by the An -- a fearsome alien people whose cruel empire once spanned the galaxies, until they were defeated and consigned to oblivion. But a research mission to the planet Ishtar has made a terrifying -- and fatal -- discovery: the Ahanu, ancestors of the former masters, live on, far from the reach of Earth -- born weapons and technology... and tens of thousands of captive human souls still bow to their iron will.

Now Earth's Interstellar Marine Expeditionary Unit must undertake a rescue operation as improbable as it is essential to humankind's future, embarking on a ten-year voyage to a hostile world to face an entrenched enemy driven by dreams of past glory and intent once more on domination. For those who, for countless generations, have known nothing but toil and subjugation must be granted, at all costs, the precious gift entitled to all of their star-traveling kind: freedom!

When called to do battle many light years from home, the 1st Marine Interstellar Expeditionary Unit rose to the challenge -- and now thousands of enslaved humans have been freed from the alien yoke. But Earth is twenty-one years older than the home planet they originally left, and the Marines need time to retrain and readjust -- time they do not have, due to the bizzare disappearance of a detachment of their brothers- and sisters-in-arms. It is a mystery, but there is a starting point: an ancient wormhole threading through the Sirius system. Whatever waits on the other side must be confronted, with stealth, with force, and without fear -- be it an ancient enemy or a devastating new threat.

The Marines are heading into the perilous unknown... and what transpires there could reshape the universe for millennia to come.

With the planet's fighting men and women deployed across the galaxy--battling in the noble cause of enslaved humanity--the insidious Xul have reached across space to devastate the unsuspecting Earth with asteroid fire. Without warning, a once majestic world is reduced to near-rubble--and the very future of humankind is in dire jeopardy.

Interplanetary leaders are on the brink of abandoning Earth and its colonies to an overwhelming enemy. But Brigadier General Garroway of the Marine Interstellar Expeditionary Unit is unwilling to concede defeat--not as long as there's a single marine willing to give his or her life in defense of their embattled homeworld. The ultimate battle is about to be waged--with breathtaking new attack technology, an ancient code of courage, and the help of an ally race that once inhabited the Earth--in a war that will alter the universe forever...

There is a milestone in the evolution of every sentient race, a Tech Singularity Event, when the species achieves transcendence through its technological advances. Now the creatures known as humans are near this momentous turning point.

But an armed threat is approaching from deepest space, determined to prevent humankind from crossing over that boundary -- by total annihilation if necessary.

To the Sh'daar, the driving technologies of transcendent change are anathema and must be obliterated from the universe -- along with those who would employ them. As their great warships destroy everything in their path en route to the Sol system, the human Confederation government falls into dangerous disarray. There is but one hope, and it rests with a rogue Navy Admiral, commander of the kilometer-long star carrier America, as he leads his courageous fighters deep into enemy space towards humankind's greatest conflict -- and quite possibly its last.

In the evolution of every sentient race, there is a turning point when the species achieves transcendence through technology.

The warlike Sh'daar are determined that this monumental milestone will never be achieved by the creatures known as human.

On the far side of known human space, the Marines are under siege, battling the relentless servant races of the Sh'daar aggressor. With a task force stripped to the bone and the Terran Confederation of States racked by dissent, rogue Admiral Alexander Koenig must make the momentous decision that will seal his fate and the fate of humankind. A strong defensive posture is futile, so Koenig will seize the initiative and turn the gargantuan Star Carrier America toward the unknown. For the element of surprise is the only hope of stalling the Sh'daar assault on Earth's solar system -- and the war for humankind's survival must be taken directly to the enemy.

There is an unseen power in the universe -- a terrible force that was dominating the galaxy tens of thousands of years before the warlike Sh'daar were even aware of the existence of Sol and its planets.

As humankind approaches the Singularity, when transcendence will be achieved through technology, contact will be made.

In the wake of the near destruction of the solar system, the political powers on Earth seek a separate peace withan inscrutable alien life form that no one has ever seen. But Admiral Alexander Koenig, the hero of Alphekka, has gone rogue, launching his fabled battlegroup beyond the boundaries of Human Space against all orders. With Confederation warships in hot pursuit, Koenig is taking the war for humankind's survival directly to a mysterious omnipotent enemy.

The fourth book in the epic saga of humankind's war of transcendence.

Humanity had appeared to fend off the Sh'daar assault once and for all, though they never learned why the alien empire was driven to halt Earth's advancement toward technological Singularity.

But in this war of worlds, victory is always elusive. And now a new battle begins.

After twenty years of peace, not one but two fragile truces are unraveling. Alexander Koenig, the former Navy commander whose heroics forced the Sh'daar into submission, has won a second term as President of the United States of North America. But pursuing his mandate -- sovereignty from the centuries-old Earth Confederation -- becomes a risky proposition due to events taking place on the other side of the galaxy. A Confederation research vessel has been ambushed. Destroyers are descending on a human colony. It seems the Sh'daar have betrayed their treaty, and all nations must stand united -- or face certain death.

An enemy might just have to become an ally... in order to save humankind

The United States of North America is now engaged in a civil war with the Earth Confederation, which wants to yield to the demands of the alien Sh'daar, limit human technology, and become a part of the Sh'daar Galactic Collective. USNA President Koenig believes that surrendering to the Sh'daar will ultimately doom humankind.

But when highly advanced, seemingly godlike aliens appear through an artificial wormhole in the Omega Centauri Cluster 16,000 light years from Earth, President Koenig is faced with a tremendous choice: continue fighting the Sh'daar... or ally with them against the newcomers in a final war that will settle the fate of more than one universe.

The clock is ticking in the struggle for galactic independence

Once rebels themselves facing off against the Earth Confederation, the United States of North America is now the dominant force in negotiations with the interstellar Sh'daar Collective. But just as the Marines root out the last violent dissenters, an alien ship of unknown origin suddenly flees Earth's orbit. Is it mere coincidence... or a terrifying omen?

President Alexander Koenig watches with great interest as USNA forces chase the runaways down. But upon first contact, it's not apparent where -- or when -- the crew is headed. For this bizarre species has somehow mastered the power to manipulate time itself. Now Koenig must decide whether he's dealing with angels of astonishing technological prowess... or the agents of humanity's destruction.

2425. The civil war between the United States of North America and the Pan-European Confederation is over. But before a new era of peace on Earth can begin, humankind must martial its interstellar forces as one fleet to engage in a war against an alien entity in Omega Centauri. Without provocation, it destroyed a Confederation science facility inhabited by 12,000 people, and it must be neutralized before it sets its sights on Earth.

Admiral Trevor "Sandy" Gray of the USNA star carrier America has his own mission. The enigmatic AI known as Konstantin has convinced him that humanity's only chance for survival is technology found in a distant star system. Now, Gray must disobey orders as well as locate and create a weapon capable of defeating a living sphere the size of a small planet...

There's no more time...

There's always more time...

Trevor Gray has been stripped of his command of the starship America, and is unsure what to do with his life. Having dedicated so much of himself to the service, he knew following the super-AI Konstantin's advice could have severe consequences. He just never thought he would be out of the fight.

Because that's what Earth is in: a fight against a sinister alien force that is so technologically advanced, there seems little hope. And that's why he had disobeyed his orders in the first place: to figure out a way to stop them. But now he's beached.

Which is just what Konstantin wanted.

For the super-AI has a plan: connect Gray with the Pan-Europeans, and set him on a course to the remote star Deneb. There, he is to make contact with a mysterious alien civilization using the new artificial intelligence Bright Light, and maybe--if they can make it in time--prevent humanity from being wiped from the universe.

Will this be the end?

Or a new beginning...

Having battled aliens to prove humanity's worth as a star-faring species, Admiral Trevor Gray has a new mission: follow the directives of the super-AI Konstantin and lead the star carrier America on a mission through time and space to determine if humanity can truly transcend into Singularity... and avoid the pitfalls that have plagued so many of the aliens Earth has encountered since it gained faster-than-light travel.

But there are those out there who don't want an answer, who wish to maintain their own power with the status quo. Beyond the dangers of star travel, Gray must contend with politicians looking to end the influence of artificial intelligence on human decisions, a secret fleet out to destroy him, hostile aliens, and the vast, uncharted space full of clues but short on answers.

A species must evolve to survive into the future. But that species must have a vision of the future. Gray hopes to find that vision for humanity... 800,000 years in the past.