‘In the year 3017, humanity is slowly recovering from an interstellar civil war that tore apart the first ‘Empire of Man’. The ‘Second Empire’ is busy establishing control over the remnants left by its predecessor, by force if necessary. The ‘Alderson Drive’ enables ships to travel instantaneously between ‘Alderson points’ in specific star systems.
“After a rebellion on the planet ‘New Chicago’ is quashed, ‘Captain Bruno Cziller’ of the ‘Imperial’ battlecruiser ‘INSS MacArthur’ remains behind as ‘Chief of Staff’ to the new governor,
“‘Commander Roderick Blaine’ is given temporary command of the ship, along with secret orders to take ‘Horace Hussein Bury’, a powerful interstellar merchant suspected of instigating the revolt, to the Imperial capital, ‘Sparta’.
“Another passenger is Lady Sally Fowler’, the niece of an Imperial senator and a traumatized former prisoner of the rebels.
“‘New Caledonia’ is the capital of the ‘Trans-Coalsack’nsector, on the opposite side of the ‘Coalsack Nebula’ from Earth. Also in the sector is a red supergiant star known as ‘Murcheson's Eye’. Associated with it is a yellow Sun-like star, which from New Caledonia appears in front of the ‘Eye’. Since some see the Eye and the Coalsack as the face of God, the yellow star is known as the ‘Mote in God's Eye’.
‘Then an alien craft is detected drifting in on a solar sail and the MacArthur is ordered to investigate…
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