The Second Moon, a science fiction adventure, chronicles a young couple abandoning their simple lives and fragile romance in order to overcome treachery, kidnapping, and murder to save their fragile human colony on the inner moon of Conboet.If the atmosphere of the planet's outer moon hadn't been poisonous, the human crew of the doomed generation ship, Tanis, might never have taken a second look at the frozen snowball that was Syton, might never have discovered that life could be sustained deep within its vast gorge, midway between the frigid surface, and the geothermal hell thirteen kilometers below.It was there, over thirty years ago, that Second Officer, Avram Elstrada struggled to break through the language barrier to negotiate a settlement agreement with the resident natives-safe harbor as long as humans agreed to follow certain Prohibitions. Foremost among them was the prohibition against the use of superior technology. They would have to give up thousands of years of science and engineering and live in the same agrarian manner as the natives, if they were to live in the Syton gorge. It was their last, best chance of surviving their dying, seven hundred year old starship. And they took it.Over the ensuing decades, life hasn't been easy for the four hundred humans trapped within the gorge. Avram has been both honored for his diplomatic compromise and vilified, particularly by the ship's chief engineer.Two Enforcers, veteran Beloit McMaster, and recently his apprentice, Avram's son Jasin, have managed to ensure adherence to the Prohibitions. It has been peaceful...until now. A human woman has been brutally murdered in Bistoun, the one racially mixed village in the great crevasse. Suspicion, falls upon Sy Loeton, one of the formidable native males, and member of the Sytonian Council who has shown an unacceptable interest in human women. But even if Avram and the Enforcers are able to prove his involvement, there are no laws protecting humans from this or any other Sytonian abuse. Humans had never been in a position to demand equal rights; something Avram, now in the waning years of his life, intends to change.Meanwhile, Jasin has fallen for Elizabeth, his mother's tall, beautiful new housekeeper. She had been a caregiver for Avram's principle detractor, the ship's senior engineer, who until his death, lived on the shore of Lake Chook with his son and deaf grandson. Elizabeth has recently suffered the loss of her mother and brother, and struggles with her depression and fear of commitment and the dark. Jasin patiently romances Elizabeth, gently encouraging her to emerge from her emotional cocoon.Struggling with their own fears and shortcomings, the young couple not only discover the true hidden purpose behind The Prohibitions, but that heroic and noble traits dwell within all races and possibly, even themselves.
