Kiel Tarragot is a cop, a member of the Inspector General Branch (IGB) the police force of the Coalition of Planets. He uses his profession as a way to avoid the personal relationships he isn’t very good at or comfortable with. After several years in training, he is coupled with a nonhuman partner; a Maldarian named Varlon, and begins his career. Due to the nature of space travel it is impossible for him to even contemplate a serious relationship that is until he meets Doctor Susan Merniehm, an anthropologist. During their first encounter Susan determines she and Kiel are destine to become life partners. No act of evasion on Kiel’s part can thwart Susan’s determination. During their next two encounters Susan and Kiel continue to be drawn together but Kiel maintains his belief that any relationship can only have a negative effect on his career. A mysterious mining accident has brought Kiel and Susan together for a fourth time. Kiel attempts to bury himself in his work, but a strange turn of events forces him to reconsider his feelings for the beautiful Denerian. While investigating different aspects of the accident and the mysterious alien artifacts, Susan vanishes from the platform of an alien machine. Devastated, Kiel rushes blindly into an adventure to save Susan. Elizabeth Genrete, another scientist assigned to the investigation, offers to help Kiel search for Susan. United Mines (UM), the company that employed the miners killed in the accident, sends their representative to oversee the situation. David Banyon, a sector vice-president of UM and an old enemy of Kiel’s is always seeking a way to advance himself and believes there may be an opportunity in the strange alien machine. Kiel, two fellow investigators and Elizabeth manage to follow Susan to a strange planet, named Midpoint that is controlled by two fantastic androids. The two lovers are quickly reunited but they and the others in the rescue party are unable to return to their own part of the Galaxy. The androids can provide little information for the travelers. They do explain something about Midpoint and identify the device that transported the travelers as the Gateway. Kiel and his party are sent on an amazing adventure to the home planet of the Shaula. This mysterious race is responsible for all that has occurred but are, at first, reluctant to help the unhappy travelers. Through their telepathic power they learn about the Coalition of Planets and recognize the situation between it and United Mines as a potential disaster. They are determined not to allow the 'great cycle of time' to be thrown out of alignment and agree to help the weary travelers. Upon their return, David Banyon decides to steal the Gateway technology for his own selfish use. Unable to stop his unscrupulous activity, Kiel, Susan, and the others are forced to postpone their investigation. They take an unscheduled vacation while Kiel's boss, Chief Brodsky, attempts to straighten out the situation. The coalition is finally convinced to stand up to Banyon and United Mines and allows Kiel’s group of investigators, Susan and her team of anthropologists, and Elizabeth with her scientific crew to return to the scene of the original accident, where the Gateway is located. Banyon manages to convince the company that only an armed conflict will allow him to gain control of the Gateway for the company. During the battle, many are lost until the strange Shaula take control of the situation. The Shaula manage to end the conflict and set into motion events that lead to the end of United Mines. Susan, at last, convinces Kiel to marry and they begin their new life, never fully realizing the impact the Shaula have had on their lives or how this mysterious race will affect their future.

Early in the twenty-fifth century, agent Adrianne Atwood is on an assignment that is taking entirely too long. She’s been tasked with gaining evidence to put Landro Jackson, a rich industrialist, behind bars. She knows where he is but figuring out what he’s doing has become a complex puzzle. Engineers have terraformed a planet, called Solitude, as the ultimate retirement local for the wealthy. Adrianne discovers that Jackson is conspiring to acquire the planet for himself. Taking advantage of his immense wealth, he enlists the aid of Solitude employees to accomplish his reprehensible goal. Adrianne’s cover, as the assistant to the planet’s project manager, has become second nature and she sees no end to her real job. Helping her boss save the planet and its residents from Jackson’s reckless plan begins overshadowing her mission. What appear to be natural disasters are revealed as the despicable results of Jackson’s strategy. Adrianne’s efforts at last generate the necessary evidence she needs. Jackson’s arrest is imminent until the industrialist’s mysterious death rips a successful mission from Adrianne’s grasp.

Imagine you are offered the opportunity to travel to any time in your past. You can either simply observe and remember or actually alter your life. Ben Tilifson has received this precise opportunity. Thinking it is a joke perpetrated by friends, he reluctantly decides to play along. Except it is not a joke. During Ben’s first trip, he coerces his fifty-five year younger self into speaking to a high school crush to whom he was originally too bashful to even say hello. The brief conversation changes his life forever. The girl introduces Ben to a friend that will become his wife. Realizing it’s not a joke or bad dream, Ben decides to continue his travels. Fearful of doing anything else that might alter his own life, he decides to devote his action to saving lives from terrible accidents. Upon returning from his most recent trip, Ben discovers his life has been dramatically transformed. A thorough review reveals that he must have traveled back in time simply to win a lottery. Memorizing the winning numbers, Ben travels twelve years into his past and purchases the winning ticket. He returns to a life even more altered than the one he just left. He is convinced he is somehow jumping between parallel yet different timelines. Recognizing the contradiction of time travel, Ben wonders what would happen if he reverses the action of his first trip. The surprise ending to the Temporal Consciousness Transposition presents a paradox that convinces Ben he has no free will.

This book addresses issues affecting growth and employment in South Asia. It looks at the policies and institutions that could propel the region towards higher growth.

This opulent and expansive volume, published in conjunction with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's monumental exhibition Made in California: Art, Image, and Identity,1900-2000, charts the dynamic relationship between the arts and popular conceptions of California. Displaying a dazzling array of fine art and material culture, Made in California challenges us to reexamine the ways in which the state has been portrayed and imagined. Unusually inclusive, visually intriguing, and beautifully produced, this volume is a delight throughout--both in image and in text--and will appeal to anyone who has lived in, visited, or imagined California.