Search Worlds Without End

Hugo and Nebula Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, Mid-December 1995. The story can also be found in the collections Rescnick collections An Alien Land (1997) and Win Some, Lose Some (2012) and the Shwartz collection Suppose They Gave a Peace and Other Stories (2002).

Nebula Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in the anthology Newer York: Stories of Science Fiction and Fantasy About the World's Greatest City (1991), edited by Lawrence Watt-Evans. The story can also be found in the anthologies Nebula Awards 27 (1993), edited by James Morrow and Visions of Wonder (1996), edited by David G. Hartwell and Milton T. Wolf. It is incuded in the collection Suppose They Gave a Peace and Other Stories (2002).

Table of Contents:

• Introduction: There's No Place Like Home - essay by Susan Shwartz
• The Folks Who Live on the Hill - short story by Stanley Schmidt
• A Day in the Skin (or, The Century We Were Out of Them) - (1984) - short story by Tanith Lee
• We Remember Babylon - novelette by Ian Watson
• In a Cavern - short story by Dean R. Lambe
• Government Work - short story by Russell M. Griffin
• "Outcasts" - novelette by Graham Diamond
• Tree House - novelette by Rachel Pollack
• Life-Tides - novelette by Jeffrey A. Carver
• Quarantine - short story by Scott Russell Sanders
• Ramadhan - short story by Shariann Lewitt
• Earthflight - novelette by J. P. Boyd

Table of Contents:

• 7 - Introduction: Seasons of the Witch - essay by Susan Shwartz
• 13 - Boris Chernevsky's Hands - short story by Jane Yolen
• 22 - Mirage and Magia - short story by Tanith Lee
• 40 - Willow - novelette by C. J. Cherryh
• 62 - Moon Mirror - short story by Andre Norton
• 76 - The Sage of Theare - juvenile - [Chrestomanci] - novelette by Diana Wynne Jones
• 102 - The Harmonious Battle - short story by Jessica Amanda Salmonson
• 118 - Science Is Magic Spelled Backwards - short story by Jacqueline Lichtenberg
• 135 - An Act of Faith - novelette by Galad Elflandsson
• 156 - Witch Fulfillment - short story by Jean Lorrah
• 173 - Ishigbi - [Nyumbani Universe] - short story by Charles R. Saunders
• 190 - Bethane - [Deryni Universe] - short story by Katherine Kurtz
• 207 - The Riddle of Hekaitë - [Shanna of Sharteyn] - short story by Diana L. Paxson
• 223 - Reunion - novelette by Jayge Carr
• 252 - Selected Bibliography (Hecate's Cauldron) - essay by Susan Shwartz

Humanity is inextricably torn in an interplanetary war that could lead to the death of human society. Project Seedcorn is probably the last and best hope for the human race. A small group of refugees, scraping out an existence on the edge of human-occupied territory, has been given orders to live as though everything were ordinary and there were no war. Now, everyone's lives depend on the children.

Caroline Cassandra Williams is on the fast track and determined to stay there. A financial analyst in one of the mega-global corporates she's stayed one step ahead of her enemies to keep from losing her place as a valued salaryman -- and two steps in front of those colleagues who would grind her down in a nanosecond to reach the next rung of economic freedom. Even though she's clawed her way out of the insulae, where working poor are warehoused, she keeps herself grimly focused with nightmares of losing her job. Or being frozen into a shipsicle and shipped to the Outer Rim as an expendable drudge. Or -- worst case --going bankrupt and dying slowly as the authorities harvest her limbs and other body parts.

When the multiplanetary company she works for sends CC to audit Vesta Colony to learn why assets keep hemorrhaging away, she knows this is her big chance to make the Ultimate Career Move. Assuming she gets the facts and pins the crooked trades and any other crimes she finds on someone or a bunch of someones she can turn in with a clear conscience, she can go home first class, collect her fiancé and a fat bonus, then march down the aisle in a perfectly event-planned wedding into a prosperous-ever-after twin career track. She's already even planned vacations with their children-to-come at the theme parks on Easter Island, the cofferdams surrounding Disney World, and the Gobi Dinosaur Pavilions. If CC succeeds, she's set for the rest of her life.

But Vesta turns out to be unlike anything CC has ever seen, and the deeper she delves, the more twisted things get until her life -- not to mention her career -- hangs in the balance. As plots expose more plots, CC finds herself confronting not just possible insider trading and fraud, but attempted murder. Who's at fault? She's got a colony of suspects, including old friends, old rivals and a dashing EarthServ pilot who knows a whole lot more about CC and her worlds than he's letting on and shows signs of being able to shake them -- and her will-power -- any time he wants.

Someone among the analysts, traders, EarthServ, and retired diplomats CC meets is hatching a deadly merger with the potential not just to crash the Solar System's economy, but wipe out humankind. Will CC find out in time -- or will the takeover she fears turn not just hostile, but deadly?

Nebula Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in the anthology What Might Have Been? Vol II: Alternate Heroes (1990), edited by Gregory Benford and Martin H. Greenberg. It can also be found in the colleciton Suppose They Gave a Peace and Other Stories (2002).

Table of Contents:

• 1 - Andre Norton: Beyond the Siege Perilous (Moonsinger's Friends) - essay by Susan Shwartz
• 16 - Sea Wrack - novelette by Marion Zimmer Bradley
• 42 - Lior and the Sea - novelette by Diane Duane
• 74 - The Pale Girl, the Dark Mage, and the Green Sea - short story by Tanith Lee
• 80 - The Forest - novelette by Poul Anderson
• 112 - The Shadow Hart - short story by Sandra Miesel
• 122 - The Woman Who Loved Reindeer - novelette by Meredith Ann Pierce
• 157 - The Price of Lightning - novelette by Jayge Carr
• 183 - Bright-Eyed Black Pony - short story by Nancy Springer
• 201 - A Flock of Geese - short story by Anne McCaffrey
• 217 - Of Law and Magic - novelette by C. J. Cherryh
• 246 - Team Venture - novelette by Jo Clayton
• 278 - Sky Sister - short story by Diana L. Paxson
• 298 - Defender of the Faith - short story by Judith Tarr
• 314 - Catalyst - short story by Katherine Kurtz
• 327 - The Foxwife - short story by Jane Yolen
• 336 - An Open Letter to Andre Norton (Moonsinger's Friends) - essay by Joan D. Vinge

In a departure for this very well-reviewed fantasist, Susan Shwartz has returned to her science fiction roots with a riveting novel of honor and its loss, love and its betrayal, and the exploration of what it means to be a true hero.

What Susan Shwartz has done is to take a well-loved tale and it in an unconventional setting. Second Chances is nothing less than an homage to Joseph Conrad-think of Lord Jim in space. Just as Conrad explored in great depth the perplexing, ambiguous problem of lost honor and guilt, expiation and heroism, Shwartz has created in her Jim a man haunted by guilt over an act of supposed cowardice and his lifelong efforts to somehow atone for that action-whether or not he merited the disgrace.

As Conrad's Jim was a tragic and ultimately noble hero, so too is Shwartz's Jim. A professional soldier whose time has passed, Jim is stationed about the corporate BioShip Irian Jaya security for a commercial venture critical to humanity's continued survival. The war that sundered whole worlds is over and now he's just another "tin soldier," a prop for the military to look good to war-weary civilians. But he's never stopped caring about those who scorn him and the ideals that he still clings to. That caring is tested, however, when he is thrust into a scandal not of his making. He chooses to carry the burden of guilt, no matter what. Because of his pride... and maybe because that's the one thing he has left. Out of this madness will come the biggest battle for his honor and his soul.

And perhaps, a promise of a second chance.

Alexandra, sister of the dying Emperor of Byzantium, undertakes a mission to smuggle live silkworms from the mysterious Empire of Ch'in. Hounded by ferocious sorcery and an array of magical helpers, she must walk the length of the known world to save an empire threatened by her very existence.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (2002) - essay
• Suppose They Gave a Peace... - (1992) - novelette
• Drawing Out Leviathan - (1997) - shortstory
• Bibi - (1995) - novella by Mike Resnick and Susan Shwartz
• Loose Cannon - (1990) - novelette
• The Carpetbagger - (1994) - shortstory
• Dreaming in Black and White - (1991) - novelette
• Beggarman - (1991) - novelette
• Temple to a Minor Goddess - (1987) - shortstory
• Critical Cats - (1991) - novelette
• Getting Real - (1991) - novelette

Hugo and Nebula Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in the anthology Alternate Presidents (1992), edited by Mike Resnick. The story can also be found in the anthology The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century (2001), edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Harry Turtledove and the collection Suppose They Gave a Peace and Other Stories (2002).

Nebula Award nominated short story. It originally appeared in Amazing Stories, January 1987 and can also be found in the collection Suppose They Gave a Peace and Other Stories (2002).

A magical retelling of the legend of the Wandering Jew follows Kundry--the harlot who is condemned to wander the Earth for all eternity for laughing at the crucifixion of Christ--the evil sorcerer Klingsor, and Parsival the fool.

Step on a magic carpet and fly away to the exotic bazaar of Kashgar... to a land of feasts and djinn, silks and sorcerers... an enchanted realm of treachery and honor, where an elephant may be a queen and a rose unlocks the secrets of the ancient gods.

Table of Contents:

• ix - Editor's Note - essay by Susan Shwartz
• [xii] - The World of the Arabian Nights (map) - interior artwork by Jeanne Gomoll
• 1 - Tales Told at Ramadan (introduction to The Tale of the Djinni and the Sisters) - essay by Susan Shwartz
• 6 - The Tale of the Djinni and the Sisters - (1988) - short story by Larry Niven (variant of The Tale of the Jinni and the Sisters)
• 20 - The Tale of the Rose and the Nightingale (And What Came of It) - novelette by Gene Wolfe
• 42 - Foolish, Wicked, Clever and Kind - novelette by Tanith Lee
• 73 - The Caravan's Tales (introduction to Memoirs of a Bottle Djinni) - essay by Susan Shwartz
• 76 - Memoirs of a Bottle Djinni - short story by Jane Yolen
• 82 - An Eye for the Ladies - short story by Esther M. Friesner
• 101 - Truthseeker - short story by Nancy Springer
• 117 - Toward the Realm of Jade (introduction to The Dowry of the Rag Picker's Daughter) - essay by Susan Shwartz
• 121 - The Dowry of the Rag Picker's Daughter - novelette by Andre Norton
• 136 - Kehailan - short story by Judith Tarr
• 155 - The Elephant In-Law - short story by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough [as by Elizabeth Scarborough]
• 173 - Tales of the Mongol's Guards (introduction to The King Who Was Summoned to Damascus) - essay by Susan Shwartz
• 177 - The King Who Was Summoned to Damascus - short story by Melissa Scott
• 196 - The Truthsayer - short story by William R. Forstchen
• 214 - The Banner of Kaviyan - short story by Harry Turtledove
• 233 - The Consolations of Philosophy (introduction to The Lovesick Simurgh) - essay by Susan Shwartz
• 236 - The Lovesick Simurgh - short story by M. J. Engh
• 245 - Afterword: Ramadan, Again - essay by Susan Shwartz
• 251 - To Learn More About the World of The Arabian Nights - essay by Sandra Miesel
• 255 - About the Authors - essay by M. J. Engh and William R. Forstchen and Esther M. Friesner and Tanith Lee and Sandra Miesel and Larry Niven and Andre Norton and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough and Melissa Scott and Susan Shwartz and Nancy Springer and Judith Tarr and Harry Turtledove and Gene Wolfe and Jane Yolen (variant of About the Authors (Arabesques)) [as by uncredited]

The camels are quiet and the stars are piercing the dark tent of heaven. The djinni claps his hands and the firelight flashed on his talons. "We can show you marvels," he says. "Cliffs wrought of diamonds, seas that have never known sunlight, wise serpents, flying horses, far oases where live the fai-haired descendants of Iskandar himself. You have but to listen, and let the mind fly free..."

Table of Contents:

• 1 - On Wings of Storm (Framing material) - short fiction by Susan Shwartz
• 5 - The Tale of the First Djinni (Framing material) - short fiction by Susan Shwartz
• 11 - The Djinn Who Watches Over the Accursed - short story by Stephen R. Donaldson (variant of The Djinn Who Watches Over the Accursed: A Fable 1985)
• 33 - Tests of Wit and Law (Framing material) - short fiction by Susan Shwartz
• 35 - The Wishing Game - [Magic Goes Away] - (1989) - short story by Larry Niven
• 49 - Curse of the Three Demons - novelette by Harry Turtledove
• 75 - The Tale of the Four Accused - short story by Gene Wolfe
• 87 - The Tale of the Second Djinna (Framing material) - short fiction by Susan Shwartz
• 89 - The Three Brides of Hamid-Dar - short story by Tanith Lee
• 107 - Tests of Illusion (Framing material) - short fiction by Susan Shwartz
• 110 - The Houri's Mirror - novelette by Esther M. Friesner
• 135 - Ali Achman and the City of Illusion - novelette by Ru Emerson
• 160 - Al-Ghazalah - novelette by Judith Tarr
• 189 - The Scorpion - short story by Nancy Springer
• 203 - Tests of Trust (Framing material) - short fiction by Susan Shwartz
• 208 - The Peri, the Roc, and the Undergrooms - short story by M. J. Engh
• 227 - The Merchant - novelette by Melissa Scott
• 248 - Beyond the Golden Road - novelette by Charles Sheffield
• 275 - The Ruse That Failed (Framing material) - short fiction by Susan Shwartz
• 279 - The Tale of the Third Djinni (Framing material) - short fiction by Susan Shwartz
• 281 - The Tale of Sindbad and the Mid-Day Demon - short story by Marvin Kaye
• 291 - Tests of Love (Framing material) - short fiction by Susan Shwartz
• 293 - Feather of the Phoenix - novelette by Katharine Eliska Kimbriel
• 326 - The Soul of a Poet - short story by Cherry Wilder
• 338 - The Flower Princess - novelette by Diana L. Paxson
• 365 - Dawn Songs (Framing Material) - short fiction by Susan Shwartz

Byzantium lies at the intersection of East and West, in the heart of the most opulent empire the world has ever known. Warrior Prince Marric has to fight for his right to defend his position as heir of the kingship. Last in the powerful line of kings descended from Alexander the Great, he is ordained by the gods of the people to rule alongside his beloved and wise sister, Alexa. But a sorcerer of dark magic has usurped the throne and Marric is exiled. To win back his rule, he must learn the arts of magic in order to defeat the dark sorcerer. In the land of Egypt, amidst the slave markets and the luxurious perfumed villas of the wealthy, he encounters a silver-haired slave girl who can teach him the arts of magic, for Marric knows that he cannot vanquish his enemy with sword and strength alone.

Alexa, princess of Byzantium, was destined to rule with her devoted brother Marric until the evil forces cast dark magic on her and made her betray him. Thus Marric feels under assault and a usurper has seized the throne--and by means both magical and moral, defeated Alexa. Saved by warrior allies, Alexa has been taken to an unfamiliar northern land. Convinced of Marric's death, she is consumed by guilt--and fear. Even from afar, the usurper's power reaches out to trap her. Savage dreams terrorize her nights, prophecies of doom upset her days, and the fiery magic runs wild within her soul.

Alexa's only hope lies amid the Druids of the distant Misty Isles. They alone can cleanse her of the darkness that infects her and teach her to use her powers well. But Alexa must learn more than just the secrets of the Druids, for within her hands and heart lie the very survival of Penilyn itself... and the fate of Byzantium.

The time for the transfer of power from one generation to the next has come. The rites require Queen Olwen to kill herself with the Queensblade in order to ensure the bounty of the kingdom. First, the Princess, Olwen's daughter Gwenlliant, must discover the powers in order to inherit the crown and the kingdom, for only in Gwenlliant rests the power to bring back the bounty of the land and the kingdom of the ages. Gwenlliant must go forth from the Isles of Mist to the shores of Byzantium in order to discover her ancient birthright. Attacked along the way by the assassins of the spirit of darkness and nearly becoming a sacrifice in the dark and bloody vaults of the Stone King, Gwenlliant must overcome hardship and steal her way to succession for only then will her kingdom survive.

With Imperial Lady, based on the life of a real historical princess of the Han dynasty and mixed with Chinese legendry andry, Andre Norton (a Grand Master of Fantasy) joins with Susan Shwartz to create a stirring, romantic, and unforgettable tale.

When Rome's might is crushed at the battle of Carrhae, the tribune Quintus can only watch in horror as the golden Eagles of Rome, symbols of everything he believes to be just, are dragged through the mud. Vowing vengeance, Quintus travels east into the mists of myth and legend, where visions of magic no Roman has ever seen astound him. And where he learns the secrets of barbarian magic that will help him win back the Empire of the Eagle

In the tenth century, the center of the world is not Rome, but Byzantium--a glorious empire, upon which the sun never sets. Constantinople, the center of this mighty dynasty, is starting to unravel. The great kings and princes, the holy city, the affluence of the empire will be scattered to the winds. Attacked by the Turks on all sides, Byzantium looks to its emperor for deliverance. Leo Ducas, heir to the Byzantine crown, must fight for his inheritance, but he doesn't truly know who his enemies are. Shunned by the citizens of Constantinople, Leo flees the city and great works are revealed to him. He learns of a realm that falls outside his Christian training, a realm of magic and wisdom...

The center of the greatest empire in the world, the seat of Christianity, Byzantium is a revered city. Marked by gargantuan monuments to God and peopled by the most royal of princes, and the most affluent citizens, Byzantium cannot possibly ever fall. Now under siege by Islam, the Byzantine Empire must look to Christians from the West for help in winning back Jerusalem, the most hallowed of cities. The Byzantines must prevent the disintegration of their empire while protecting the faith of many, but at what expense?

A collection of original short stories by acclaimed writers of women's fantasy--including Jane Yolen, Tanith Lee, Janny Wurts, Sheila Finch, Elizabeth Moon, and Katharine Kerr--features powerful stories of women doing extraordinary, heroic things--with a woman's touch.

Table of Contents:

• ix - The Women Whose Work We See - An Opossum's-Eye View of Fantasy - essay by Susan Shwartz
• 1 - Women's Stories - (1995) - poem by Jane Yolen
• 3 - Hallah's Choice - (1995) - novelette by Jo Clayton
• 34 - Wayfinder - (1994) - novelette by Janny Wurts
• 67 - The Way Wind - novelette by Andre Norton
• 105 - Healer - short story by Josepha Sherman
• 117 - No Refunds - (1994) - short story by Phyllis Eisenstein
• 137 - Firstborn, Seaborn - short fiction by Sheila Finch
• 151 - A Game of Cards - (1994) - short story by Lisa Goldstein
• 168 - Courting Rites - short story by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
• 183 - Felixity - short story by Tanith Lee
• 207 - Horse of Her Dreams - short fiction by Elizabeth Moon
• 228 - Unto the Daughters - short story by Nancy Kress
• 239 - Babbitt's Daughter - short fiction by Phyllis Ann Karr
• 264 - Remedia Amoris - short fiction by Judith Tarr
• 287 - The Bargain - short fiction by Katharine Kerr

Twenty-three tales of magic and wonder feature the works of today's most popular women fantasy writers, including Mercedes Lackey, Jane Yolen, Diana L. Paxson, Gael Baudino, and Patricia McKillip.

Table of Contents:

• xi - Introduction (Sisters in Fantasy II) - (1996) - essay by Susan Shwartz
• 17 - Wonder Land - (1996) - short story by Jane Yolen
• 20 - Shahrezad - (1996) - short story by Ellen Guon
• 33 - This Fair Gift - (1996) - novella by Pamela Dean
• 80 - Dumping Ra - (1996) - short story by Sharan Newman
• 89 - Kneeling at His Side - (1996) - short story by Lois Tilton
• 98 - Vashti and God - (1996) - short story by Valerie J. Freireich
• 118 - Angel of the City - (1996) - short story by Susan Shwartz
• 131 - Why Is This Night Different? - (1996) - short story by Janni Lee Simner
• 138 - Völsi - (1996) - short story by Diana L. Paxson [as by Diana Paxson]
• 154 - Stone Whorl, Flint Knife - (1996) - short story by Rebecca Ore
• 166 - Horse Tracks - (1996) - short story by Rebecca Ore
• 178 - The Witches of Junket - (1996) - novelette by Patricia A. McKillip [as by Patricia McKillip]
• 201 - Moonlight in Vermont - (1996) - novelette by Esther M. Friesner [as by Esther Friesner]
• 224 - The Way Your Life Is - (1996) - short story by Nancy Springer
• 230 - Bitterfoot (Homage to Ernest K. Gann) - (1996) - novelette by Gaèl Baudino
• 251 - A Night at the J Street Bar - (1996) - short story by Susan Casper
• 255 - Fuzz - (1990) - short story by Martha Soukup
• 262 - Call Him by Name - (1996) - short story by Ru Emerson
• 273 - Daria's Window - (1996) - short story by Sherwood Smith
• 293 - The Found and Lost Shop - (1996) - short story by Barbara Delaplace
• 307 - Pyre - (1996) - novelette by Lee Barwood
• 330 - Coyote - (1996) - short story by Beth Meacham
• 343 - Wet Wings - short story by Mercedes Lackey

Just over a year ago, Captain James T. Kirk was lost to the Nexus while saving the U.S.S. Enterprise 1701-B from destruction. Aboard the science ship Intrepid II, Captain Spock, commanding some of his old crewmates, must face the loss of his closest friend. But while still in mourning for one friend, he must come to the aid of another. Decades ago, Spock had teamed up with David Rabin, the young son of a Starfleet Captain, to fight an attempted coup on Vulcan that would have turned the planet's people away from the path of logic. Now a Starfleet officer, Captain David Rabin has been assigned to a harsh desert world much like Vulcan, where the Federation is determined to protect the lives of the inhabitants. But Rabin's efforts are being sabotaged and he has asked for Spock's help against the unknown forces that may well destroy the society he had come to save. While reflecting on his youthful adventure with David Rabin, Spock joins with Rabin to face and enemy out of their past and confront deadly Romulan treachery. In the process Spock will decide if the path of his life now leads back toward the family traditions he had once sought to escape.

2239. Now a diplomat for the United Federation of Planets, Spock agrees to a bonding with Saavik, his former protege and an accomplished Starfleet officer in her own right. More than a betrothal but less than a wedding, the sacred Vulcan rite is attended by both Spock's father, Sarek, and a nervous young Starfleet officer named Jean-Luc Picard. Plans for the consummation of the pair's union are thrown off course when Spock receives a top-secret communication that lures him into the heart of the Romulan empire. Enmeshed in the treacherous political intrigues of the Romulan capital, undone by a fire that grows ever hotter within his blood, Spock must use all his logic and experience to survive a crisis that will ultimately determine the fate of empires!

Contents:

• Exodus - novel by Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz
• Exiles - novel by Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz
• Epiphany - novel by Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz

Ambassador Spock has married his fellow Vulcan Starfleet officer, Captain Saavik, but he and his wife have little time to enjoy their newlywed status before both of them are plunged into the heart of a clandestine war. Pursuing his hope of uniting Vulcan and Romulus after centuries of hostility between them, Spock finds himself inadvertently drawn into conflict with a long-lost race -- also of Vulcan descent -- who are set on the destruction of the weakened Romulan Empire. Together with the surviving members of Captain James T. Kirk's old crew, Spock and Saavik are forced to abandon the aegis of the Federation and wage their own secret war behind the scenes. And even as their relationship deepens, their future is threatened as Spock's dream of peace leads him into deadly danger...

One year after the end of the Dominion War, the Romulan Star Empire comes under attack by a mysterious and alarmingly powerful enemy calling itself the Watraii, a species with a long-standing vendetta against the Romulans. Yet though they remain tenuously allied, the Federation, the Romulans, and the Klingons are unready to become embroiled in another sustained conflict, forcing Ambassador Spock, Admiral Uhura, Admiral Chekov, Captain Saavik, and some unexpected allies to defy their governments in order to meet the new threat head-on. But the first blood drawn may prove to be among the dearest of all.

Unknown to the defenders, the secret behind the Watraii's attack is buried in Vulcan's violent ancient past, during the time of Surak himself, when the proto-Romulans -- staunch opponents of Surak's reforms -- were compelled to take their chances among the cold and distant stars. Now Spock must begin the first leg of a long and dangerous road to learn the truth... before his hopes for the future become ashes.

Following on from the events of Vulcan's Soul: Exodus, a bloody war is raging between the Romulans and the mysterious Watraii. Ambassador Spock, pursuing his dream of ending the centuries-old enmity between Romulus and Vulcan, must find and penetrate the home base of the Watraii, where long-hidden secrets that link this newly-discovered people to the ancient Vulcan race are finally revealed. Through masterful use of flashbacks to an earlier time in Vulcan civilization, Josepha Sherman and Susan Schwartz bring the history of Vulcan to life as never before in a stirring tale of explorers who took their chances amidst the cold and distant stars.

Tensions remain high as the United Federation of Planets, the Klingon Empire, and the Romulan Star Empire attempt to maintain their fragile post-Dominion War peace in the wake of the brutal attack by the mysterious Watraii that ended with the loss of Admiral Pavel Chekov. When Admiral Uhura receives intelligence regarding a Watraii base that may contain more than one surprise, she sends Ambassador Spock, Captain Saavik, Ruanek, Captain Montgomery Scott, and Lieutenant Commander Data on a covert mission to learn its secrets....

But the true secrets of the Watraii have their basis millennia in the past. In the time of Surak, Vulcans were at a crossroads, on the cusp of either embracing logic or succumbing to emotion and destroying themselves. With Surak's blessing, a group of Vulcans left their turbulent homeworld to find their destiny among the stars -- but the stars prove themselves even more unforgiving than the sands of Vulcan's deserts, as Karatek, the reluctant leader of the exiles, must struggle to hold the community together.

As the hidden truth about the Romulans' early history is revealed at last, its implications for the future play out as Spock and his allies reach across a gulf of both time and space in an attempt to bridge the gap that separates the longscattered offshoots of the Vulcan people. And though the reunification he hopes to achieve will come at a terrible cost, failure could mean centuries of sorrow and chaos for untold millions.

The distant past: The great ships have left war-torn Vulcan behind and, after a most arduous journey, have arrived at their destination. Two worlds become the new home of the exiles: Romulus is a verdant paradise, one much different from their desert home, while Remus is a barren wasteland, albeit one that is laden with natural resources. When Karatek and his family find themselves trapped on Remus with no hope of joining their brothers and sisters on Romulus, it sparks a conflict that leads the exiles into vicious civil war.

One year after the Dominion War: The Watraii are determined to destroy the Romulan Star Empire. Ambassador Spock is equally determined to learn their secret. With the aid of his wife Captain Saavik and the U.S.S. Alliance, his old comrades Scotty, Uhura, and Chekov, and Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the U.S.S. Enterprise, Spock executes a daring plan to bring about peace before the Alpha Quadrant is once again plunged into war....