I like the way these books have been written; they have one central story and that’s all. There are very few side-stories and there is a small one in this book. It also seems like the series has ended, but there is a major part that’s missing.
Earth has been in an alliance with Pahxin to fight off the efforts of the Tol’An, a terrorist group threatening the entire galaxy. Earth has developed one starship called the Gnosis which was supposed to be an exploration ship and not a warship. The threat from the Tol’An have changed that.
Central to this story is the Orbs. These are very advanced devices left by an alien race long, long dead. Neither Humans nor Pahxin know exactly what the devices were for or exactly how to use them. They believe the hold significant scientific advances which, if they could be accessed, might push humanity and the Pahxin well beyond their current technology levels. The Pahxin are already much further advanced than the Humans, but they are willing to share their technology.
Earth and the Pahxins have managed to locate and secure four of the known six Orbs. Each one of these took a significant fight by humans and Pahxins to keep the Tol’An from securing them. The Tol’An are believed to have the final two, but the location of the Tol’An headquarters has been unknown until now.
Agent Casandra Alexander has some how formed an attachment with the Orbs. She and two other people have managed to mind meld with the Orbs and it’s hoped that with four of the Orbs together on Earth, they can get the information from the to pin-point the location of the final two Orbs.
But a surprise attack by the Tol’An has Earth in chaos. It appears that the Tol’An have decided that if they can’t have all of the Orbs, then no one else will. They are making suicide runs agains Pahxin starships in order to get to Earth and destroy the Orbs. It is believed that if the Tol’An can cause the Orbs to explode, it could destroy Earth.
So, the Gnosis and it’s Pahxin friends aren’t going to let that happen. Additionally, now that they know the location of the other two Orbs and the Tol’An HQ, it would seem that the humans and Pahxins could finish the Tol’An off for good while gathering up the last two Orbs. What will happen when and if the final two Orbs are brought together with the other four is unknown.
Unfortunately, we still don’t know because the book didn’t take the story that far and there’s nothing about another book. That is unfortunate since we’ve gone through eight books now only to not find out what happens next. Oh, well, the story is well written and worth reading as it is.