Humanity, obsessed with materialism and devoid of spirituality, is in trouble. Seeking a path around territorial restrictions imposed in a shaky peace with an unseen race humans call the Necromancers, Task Force RF-19.2 has twice blundered into the path of a second alien species' invasion force on its way to Earth, answering a challenge of honor by mortal combat from its own enemy. Now, beaten and seriously mauled, the remnants of Task Force RF-19 and its fleet have retreated to a pre-established emergency rendezvous, a planet known as DeGeller 5, only to meet other human forces fleeing Earth after this new enemy's cleansing bombardment of their Ancient Battlefield. Regrouping at DeGeller, the situation deteriorates further when a second invasion force crosses their path on its way to Earth also. Physical appearances aside, the two enemies are almost total technological opposites, one side wholeheartedly embracing technology, the other wholeheartedly rejecting it. The situation becomes even more convoluted when the human refugees receive a request for military assistance from a third race, enslaved to one of the two enemies. Against this backdrop 2nd Lt. Zhou Wen discovers he is the only heir to humanity's imperial throne; he must face a rebellious Mother Church, the suffocating imperial bureaucracy, his doubts about the succession and his claim to the throne, all while returning to Earth to confront two mortal enemies hellbent on destroying each other. In doing so, Zhou Wen discovers the eternal secret of humanity the two combatants are fighting over.
About the Author: Richard K. Perkins is a registered architect living and practicing in Virginia. A lifelong devotee of literature in general and a fan of science fiction in particular, he counts as his earliest formative influences in the genre the works of Andre Norton, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, and Robert Heinlein. Admiring the ability and determination of authors to write, at the age of twelve he felt compelled to set pen to paper for his first science fiction short stories. His personal philosophy is rooted in the tenet that much of what humanity holds dear in the way of beliefs, dogma and motifs are based in long lost, forgotten, or misinterpreted fact, and that because of this it is entirely possible for religion and science to not only co-exist together but to thrive, confirm, and stimulate each other. His science fiction writings are expressions of hope, fear, belief, and faith.