Ok, so you thought this series was pretty much over, right. With the Tol’An defeated and all six Orbs now gathered together on Earth, what more could this story contain. Well, obvious there’s still enough for at least this one more book. It’s also a pretty good end to the series, if it does end here.
Earth’s allies, the Pahxin have agreed to allow Earth to have their two Orbs so as they can all be placed in the same room which has never been done before since they were created. Know one knows what will happen when all six Orbs are finally in close proximity. Some believe it could be a total disaster since they appear to work just fine over vast distances. Others think they will start revealing some wondrous new information that will move humanity into a “Golden Age”, still others believe nothing at all will happen.
Agent Casandra Alexander, Captain Desmond Bradford, Commander Vincent Bowman and the rest of the main characters are back along with some new, but important players. All of the main characters except those not directly involved in the long struggle to capture all the Orbs have now gathered on Earth to await the activation of all six Orbs. Newly promoted Sergeant Major Geoffrey Heathrow (Heat) is also in attendance since he was one of the previous three people who had some kind of mental contact with the Orbs. Pahxin Doctor Gil Vaedra was also present since he just awoke from a previous contact with the Orbs. He was the longest one to recover and his Doctors were not sure why.
The Orbs were finally activated in the same room with all the observers standing behind glass shields or in another part of the laboratory watching on closed-circuit TV. At first, nothing seemed to happen. All six Orbs began to glow and it got so bright several observers had to shield their eyes. Then Agent Alexander, Commander Bowman, Sergeant Major Heathrow and Dr. Gil Vaedra all slumped in their chairs. It was assumed that the Orbs had once again mentally contacted these individuals and was telepathically talking to them. The only difference this time was that Commander Bowman was now included.
What they find out in this new episode with the Orbs is the basis of a new mission for the Gnosis and the Pahxin starship Stalwart commanded by Captain Ulian Hataran. It was always wondered who had built the Orbs and for what purpose. There were many myths and legends about the Orbs, but none had any proof. The Orbs now conveyed to these for that their creators were located in a very remote part of space and it was time for them to be contacted. The only thing the Orbs didn’t know is if this contact would be friendly or not.
So once again the Gnosis is headed into the unknown. They hope this is a diplomatic mission, but the Stalwart will be accompany the Gnosis as well as having a trailing Pahxin flotilla a star system away as reinforcements if necessary. What everyone on the Gnosis had hoped to be a long period of rest and relaxation turned into a short stay at home with new mission orders taking them once again into the unknown.
This was a well written story with a very exciting ending. Two new characters, well one we’ve read about before, kind of take center stage and are central to the story. I do think that this will have to be the end of this series. If anything, the Gnosis should now be available for its original mission of exploration and not war-fighting. Only the author knows for sure. It still strange that after all this time with the Gnosis going into every battle, Earth still hasn’t been able to build another similar starship! I don’t think Earth could ever really rely on one single starship for defense, but that’s the way a lot of science fiction books seem to build their stories around.