Dueling as a means of settling disputes has been revived by the invention of the dueling machine, which allows two adversaries to have at each other in the imaginary world of their choosing, with no danger to either other than humiliation and the loss of the point in dispute, until the Kerak Worlds found a way to kill with the machine. Unless a young Star Watchman can solve the mystery, the warlike Kerak Worlds will gobble up the planets.
We are each born under our own star, and we are also tied to our own destiny. One day, the stars we are born under and the destinies we are tied together with shall meet, and our verse in the great song of life shall be sung.
The opening act of a true space opera. A cynical officer whose career wasn't exactly going great is given a shot at glory and accepts for the wrong reasons. A ship that should not even exist finds itself circling the changeover of eras, the good times have passed and the storms are approaching. A galactic alliance on the brink of a new age, the many parts that make its whole unaware of each other. A hastily-gathered crew learning to become a unit, not by choice, but by necessity.
The most dangerous, utterly vicious carnivorous animal the Galactics knew had escaped. to Earth! Because contact with Earth was forbidden, they knew little of Earth. which led to certain false conclusions.
The history of man becomes fearfully and wonderfully confusing with the advent of interstellar travel. Of special interest to the legally inclined student is the famous Skrrgck Affair, which began before the Galactic Tribunal with the case of _Citizens vs. Skrrgck_.
Something Was Very Wrong, Out There Among The Stars...The interstellar transport had touched down on six other colony worlds - and all six had been devoid of human life. Where was everybody? It was almost as if humankind, when separated by cosmic distances from Mother Earth, could not survive.
It starts with cadet Roger, urm, nicking a study spool for use in a competitive exam -- but that leads all of our cadets into a fight, and when they're caught at that, a trial. In the midst of the trial they get assigned to duty on a Top Secret Projectile Project, and things go wrong there in ways at once related and impossible to connect. Someone is causing real menace to roost in the cadets' lives, and the worst is still ahead...