
Bart Steele is a restless teenager caught between a looming space voyage and a haunting memory of a mysterious alien port on Earth. As the Lhari ship prepares for warp‑drive, a cold‑sleep injection forces him to confront the dread of waking on unknown worlds where his hidden identity could be exposed. The opening thrusts listeners into his panic, the sterile medic’s needle, and the chilling anticipation of a journey that may reshape his future.
Leaving the desert‑turned‑crystalline spaceport, Bart reunites with his academy friend Tommy Kendon and his father, who returns aboard the same vessel after years apart. The glittering Lhari architecture, the blinding rainbow‑splintered floor, and the imposing guardians in dark lenses paint a vivid tableau of a civilization that feels both wondrous and alien. As the crew readies for departure, Bart’s mixed heritage—half‑human, half‑Mentorian—raises questions about belonging that will echo through the stars.
Language
en
Duration
~4 hours (256K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2007-03-11
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects

1930–1999
Best known for blending fantasy and science fiction in richly imagined worlds, this American writer created enduring series including Darkover and the Avalon books. Her career stretched across decades, with work that helped shape modern speculative fiction.
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