How far would you go for a second chance? Humanity thought that meeting intelligent life would bring peace. They were wrong. Decades after first contact, Mankind is locked in a power struggle, not with our neighbors, but with ourselves. As nuclear war threatens to re-ignite in a nearby colony, Humanity looks to the best the galaxy has to offer. And the best aren't human. A pilot and his friend, trapped on a riot-stricken world, hold the information needed to strike decisively and end the war before it begins. He will stop at nothing to get them to safety, and she would give the world for a chance at redemption. But with governments trading secrets, assassins behind every corner, and war sinking its teeth into a struggling solar system, will the two operatives be able to make it home with their lives? And more importantly, their honor?

Language warning for the actual novel. Paragon. A dying galaxy, exhausted of all but the most basic natural resources and home to three failing superpowers. A great war tore the galaxy apart two and a half centuries ago, and still, the scars are vivid. Much of the surviving population toils under regimes ensnared in endless rings of bureaucracy, inaction, and corruption - under regimes that have forgotten them. Carok. Paragon's savior, and Paragon's reservoir. For two hundred years, Carok has been bled dry by the survivors of Paragon. For two hundred years, Carok has been powerless to stop them, keeling to the brutality and militarization of Paragon's endlessly-warring nations. For two hundred years, insurrections and uprisings have been mercilessly crushed in the name of the greater good - in the name of Paragon. As Paragon spirals into a new depression and Carok's strength develops under the corruption and ignorance of Paragon's protectorate fleets, the fragile peace between the two galaxies is flung headlong into a critically unstable situation - a situation that it was never expected to endure.

A possible future in less than 500 words, if plastic wins. This was my entry for the WattPad/National Geographic #PlanetOrPlastic competition back in late 2018. It reached their Top 10 Submissions which, given that there appeared to be well over 5000 entries, was a very pleasant surprise! The competition itself had a limit of 500 words so, for those who keep asking if I intend continuing the story, the answer (for now!) is no - unless I can find a very good reason for adding any more. Many thanks to everyone reading and voting on this story and getting it to number 1 in the #sciencefiction category in May/June 2020! I did try to thank the voters individually on their pages but Wattpad have a daily limit on the number of times I'm allowed to do that and there are now too many of you (not that I'm complaining)! Here's the top 10 submissions page: https://www.wattpad.com/list/738243473-planetorplastic-top-10-submissions If you want to read the story in Polish please head over to https://www.wattpad.com/story/236405960-m%C4%85dro%C5%9B%C4%87-staro%C5%BCytnych-t%C5%82umaczenie-pl where @juliatlumaczy has done a fine job - thank you, Julia! @juliatlumaczy has now sent me a version of the cover she used for her Polish translation - thanks again, Julia! @alex_sokolova has also translated the story into Russian as well. You can read that here: https://www.wattpad.com/976002417-мудрость-древних - many thanks, Alex! We now have a third translation! @AlfonsoLucassen has kindly translated it into Spanish and you can find it here: https://www.wattpad.com/1063634347-la-sabidur%C3%ADa-de-los-antiguos