The Palace of Eternity

'The planet Mnemosyne, surrounded by a lambent shell of tiny moon-fragments, was known throughout the Federation as the Poets' World. It was a beautiful planet far inside the frontiers of Man's long war with the alien Pythsyccans, and it was to this quiet world that Mack Tavernor retired when he resigned from the Federation forces. But suddenly the peace of Mnemosyne was shattered; the Federation was moving its military headquarters here. Man's forces were in retreat - and now that Mnemosyne had become Earth's military centre, it became also the target of wave after wave of alien attacks, in a continuing onslaught that could not fail to break through Man's last defences. Tavernor was caught up in that battle, and he knew that neither he nor humanity would ever again find the peace they sought... unless, perhaps, in death.'