Emperor’s daughter Mercedes is the first woman ever admitted to the High Ground, the elite training academy of the Solar League’s Star Command, and she must graduate if she is to have any hope of taking the throne. Her classmate Tracy has more modest goals—to rise to the rank of captain, and win fame and honor. But a civil war is coming and the political machinations of those who yearn for power threaten the young cadets. In a time of intrigue and alien invasion, they will be tested as they never thought possible.

Thracius Tracy Belmanor and the Infanta Mercedes de Arango have graduated from The High Ground and have become officers in the Orden de la Estrella. Tracy s posting aboard a battleship leads him to further doubt the intentions of the Solar League, as he and his comrades are required to assimilate the settlers of a Hidden World. Meanwhile, Mercedes own posting and her difficult marriage to Beauregard Boho Cullen, made to assure her succession of the throne divides her loyalties. In a society where most humans and all aliens are second-class citizens, the two young officers will have difficult choices to make "

An explosive new space opera from the Emmy Award-winning scriptwriter of Star The Next Generation Fourteen years have passed since he was framed for theft to cover up an imperial atrocity, and disgraced military officer Thracius “Tracy” Belmanor has built a new life for himself. Living under an assumed name as the captain of a small trading vessel crewed primarily by aliens, he and his crew engage in both legal and illegal deals just under the radar of the Solar League authorities. At the other end of the social hierarchy, Princess Mercedes de Arango has her own problems—the major one being the lack of an heir. Meanwhile her philandering husband Boho Cullen has ably proved the problem isn’t him. With rumors of a coup swirling around the throne, Mercedes makes the desperate decision to undertake a military campaign and gain her people’s allegiance through a victory. But when things go badly wrong and her future lies in the hands of the man she betrayed, Tracy has a choice to make—can he ever forgive her?

An explosive new space opera from the Emmy Award-winning scriptwriter of Star Trek: The Next Generation The fourth book in the acclaimed space opera romance series Imperials. A new alien race has attacked the human Solar League bringing war and death. Tracy returns to active duty as Mercedes and Boho lead their troops in a desperate attempt to save the empire. All three bring their bravery and brilliance to bear, but Boho is angered by Tracy's emerging fame. Then at the height of the conflict they are betrayed by a former classmate, Jasper Talion who has his own ambitions. While Mercedes and Boho are engaged in the final, desperate battle with the alien menace Tracy races to protect the Imperial prince from Talion... And discovers the boy is actually his son and not Boho's. Will Tracy also become a rebel?

Thucydides Trap: A point when one great power threatens to displace another, war is unavoidable… Thracius "Tracy" Belmanor has struggled to do his patriotic duty in the wake of the loss of the love of his life, Empress Mercedes de Arango. Amid a desperate war, the Solar League cannot afford his grief, nor the political instability of admitting the depth of their relationship. It is for duty alone, both as a soldier and as a father, that he has entered into a loveless marriage that makes him part of the royal family to shepherd his son and the Solar League towards what seems to be humanity’s triumph against its foe. However, a new danger has appeared that will lead to extinction on a galactic scale, and once again both Tracy and Mercedes must place duty over their own desires.