Jake

Strauth despises magic, and despises all those who wield it. When his brother devises a plan to eradicate those responsible for their father’s death, Strauth is eager to join the cause. Then, he receives his new assignment - guarding a witch, while her family is on an errand for the king. When an assassin attempts to kill her, Strauth protects her, nearly losing his own life. Escaping death changes hatred into something new, but the discovery of his brother’s hand in the scheme makes following his heart complicated.

While the crew of the starship Flying Dutchman have been trying to assure that hostile aliens do not have access to Earth, the UN Expeditionary Force has been stranded on the planet they nicknamed "Paradise". The Flying Dutchman is headed back out on another mission, and the UN wants the ship to find out the status of the humans on Paradise. But Colonel Joe Bishop warns that they might not like what they find, and they can't do anything about it without endangering Earth.

. With the rise of the Berlin Wall, 12-year-old Gerta finds her family divided overnight. She, her mother, and her brother, Fritz, live on the eastern side, controlled by the Soviets. Her father and middle brother, who had gone west in search of work, cannot return home. Gerta knows it is dangerous to watch the wall, to think forbidden thoughts of freedom, yet she can't help herself. She sees the East German soldiers with their guns trained on their own citizens; she, her family, her neighbors, and her friends are prisoners in their own city.