His father had cursed him.¿Sheldon Addison was to be the legitimate, next-in-line Galactic Emperor- and he would have ruled over the almost three thousand planets as abenevolent dictator, had his father not saddled him (and the rest of thegalaxy) with the curse.Democracy.His bleeding-heart, dim-witted father had, before he died, allowed theEmpire to slip into the chaos that was democracy.¿ And in the process, Sheldon's father had costhim his only chance at imperial glory.¿Although Sheldon still held the title of Emperor, it was a title in nameonly, a relic of past glories.Except . . . an idea was forming and the report of a habitable planetat the end the spiral arm, combined with the life-span shortening technique . .. made that idea . . . well, it was intriguing.A tale of conspiracy, of alliances and betrayals, set among the starsand the new planet, Sheldon.¿ This is thestory of our ancestors, leaders from the known planets, kidnapped and forced tolive the Emperor's fantasy.¿ Of lifetimesgenetically reduced by a factor of ten, watched, studied and controlled bythose not afflicted.¿ Thosewho still have the Long Lives. A planet far removed from the galactic core, away from the bounds andprotective constraints of law, free to be immersed wholly in the Emperor'smadness.¿ The final answer to what eviland excess becomes when left alone.¿ Whenappetites and passions are allowed free rein, when psychosis is encouraged topercolate, bubble and develop into . . . an art form.Where the inhabitants of Sheldon, later to be named Earth, toilendlessly to create society in the emperor's image, never realizing they'vebecome an experiment, an aberration, a disease nurtured to be unleashed on anunsuspecting galaxy.
