Heritage Universe

It was just before Summertide, when the planet Quake would orbit closest to its sun, subjecting itself to vast tidal forces. It was to be the most violent Summertide ever, creating something that only happened every 350,000 years. Access to the unstable Quake was supposed to be prohibited, but some very insistent travelers were determined to make the trip. Professor Darya Lang, who studied artifacts left by the long-vanished aliens called the Builders, had a hunch that she might find the Builders themselves. And Councilor Julius Graves was hunting murderers. Planetary Administrators Hans Rebka and Max Perry had no choice but to go to Quake, risking their lives to protect the others—and to learn, just maybe, the secret of Summertide and the Builders.

For millennia, humankind and the other intelligent races have studied the bizarre and unfathomable constructs of the legendary beings known as the Builders. But still, they are no closer to figuring out who—or what—the Builders were, or where they have gone. For Darya Lang, who has single-handedly catalogued their artifacts for the rest of the universe, finding the Builders has been a life-long dream. To Louis Nenda and the Cecropian Atvar H'sial, the Builder artifacts represent a once-in-a-lifetime shot at untold wealth, and adventurer Hans Rebka has his own dreams of unraveling their mystery. Then, on the world called Quake, during a period of planetary upheaval known as Summertide, a small group of humans and aliens witness the culmination of all those years of watching and waiting, as the planet opens up…and something comes out.