There is no hunger, no social hard ship and thus the core reasons for crime eroded. That is the official opinion and beleive of most. One percent of a population, that is counted in Centillions is still a very big number. The shiny, mighty Union is not perfect. Some say a free society can never be.
A Not-Quite Human Story (1) Al and Betty aren't like their classmates. They've developed skills which set them apart and sets them on a search for others like them. As they discover who they might be, they become alienated from friends, family and humanity in general. Between walking into disasters, ungrateful rescues and government agents tracking their movements, they're searching for a way out and a way home, wherever that might be. Updated and revised to match the other books in the series.
A The Catalyst Story (1) A young man, suddenly finds women mysteriously attracted during a family trip to New Orleans. He acts as a catalyst, activating strange abilities in them that he doesn't understand. He's not ready for the responsibilities of adulthood, yet he's called upon to lead a string of followers. There are no superheros or world saving here, it's an examination of building a movement from the ground up.
A Not-Quite Human Story (2) Unable to find a home and acceptance on Earth, an intrepid band of misplaced youth seek their ancestral home among the stars. Unfortunately, their reception is not what they hoped. The home they discover is a hostile environment, involved in a huge interstellar war with a hostile alien species. Viewed as untrusted interlopers, they search for a place in a universe with no use for them, and no place turn for assistance. One chapter has some explicit interspecies sex, but it's part of the plot.
Tim is recovered from the escape pod and starts a new life as the captain of an Alien spaceship. Which is controlled by an AI. He travels and builts his crew of sexies females Aliens.
It was, as usual, a decision on which the question of peace or atomic war depended. The Council of the Western Defense Alliance, as usual, had made the decision. And, as usual, the WDA Coordinator had to tell the Com Ambassador that the Coms had won again. The WDA would not risk atomic war over a minor boundary. Some hundreds of light-years away, the Survey ship Lotus floated in space over the third planet of the system, a planet exactly like Earth, only there was absolutely NO life on it.