The Fourth Book in the Coalition Series. The Restoration Edict was supposed to restore order. But the War of the Coalescency had shattered the fragile alliances that had once united an entire Galaxy. Now the Coalition has been forced to retreat back towards the Hub Sector. The Non-Conformist planets had finally declared their independence and the alien races were once more gathering to challenge the power of the Coalition. The story of the Custodia and the Cortex comes full circle in the next chapter of the Coalition saga. The journey which began at the Far Star Colony ends inside its ruins. Two former enemies come face to face with not one mortal enemy, but three.

Love, hate, passion, regret... these are emotions we experience as we attempt to navigate our lives. Peter J. Maher's Selected Poems embraces the only two certainties from birth... life and death.

Before the Cortex there was the Transcend. The explorers had travelled beyond the known Rim, out into the vast darkness of the Great Expanse. Guided by the hand of an ancient legacy they were finally approaching their final destination: Sandheim. But the journey to the home of the gods had become a race, and not every contender was willing to abide by the rules. Mystery, intrigue and violence had followed them to Sandheim, and a terrible crime born out of the heart of the Alliance was about to be revealed. But even the gods have secrets and sometimes a single revelation can be the genesis for catastrophe.

The journey into one's soul is often complicated by illusions, false memories and a vague sense of destination. Peter J. Maher's The City and the Fall Poetry Collection explores the long journey from revelation to redemption.

They were born out of fire and walked the stars as gods, an empire was born and the seeds of creation planted... Power and glory were followed by war and pestilence...and the solution was the Transcend. One billion years later the Dynastic Dynasties united to form the Hub Alliance... Now the Alliance was about to become the Coalition; but lure of the ancient power of Sandheim was about to undermine the stability of the Allied Union... A small group of explorers had travelled to the edge of the known universe to unlock the secrets of the gods; but not every quest is welcome and some secrets are best left alone in the dark...

The Coalition of Worlds has known peace for hundreds of years and there was no reason to believe any of that would change. Until The Cortex was reborn. A self-generating neural construct that exceeded its basic protocols has reawakened and is looking for revenge. The Cortex is the story of a quest. A love story and a war story on a Galactic scale. It is the story of an ancient nightmare and one girl forced to face her terrible destiny at the edge of the known universe.