The Final Enactment

The Final Enactment is about the first expedition to the stars. It is sponsored by a Civil Service that has taken all power to itself. Travelling faster than light, the members of the expedition are thrown out of this reality. Later they come into contact with an intergalactic civilization that is similarly ruled by a Service, but one of a very different nature. Some six thousand years earlier, the last emperor resigned, dissolving the empire, abolishing all previous laws and substituting a single code by which the members of the expedition are put on trial to see if they are human. They meet God and are introduced to a new way of thinking about right and wrong. The two main characters get off on the wrong foot with one another and, through a number of adventures, are slowly reconciled. Others are not what they at first appear to be. From the beginning the crew have been puzzled by the illogical way the expedition has been organized, and they discover the reason for this when they find out why the Earth had up to then been barred from contact with other worlds. There are other strange events that cannot be reconciled till everything is explained at the very end. This is a novel of characters, adventure and ideas. It should appeal particularly to people with an interest in science fiction, law—and religion!