Zhlindu

This is the axle on which both The Second Expedition and the whole Gordon’s Lamp series turn. Alan makes it to Zhlindu and in a few short local years, thinks he is in the 'and they lived happily ever after' part of his adventure. Desa buys the yandrille she came to the city for and wonders if her band mates will finally lure her away from Alan.

But while Alan and Desa have gone on with their lives and nearly forgotten the expedition of Gordon's Lamp, different groups on the expedition have been taking actions that will force them to think about Alan's origin once again. Ava finds the native data system harder to crack than she thought, until she finally gets some help from an ancient wizard that she suspects is a virus in her own logic.

Then a detective appears at Desa's door, telling her that they are being hunted by strange beings. Ava finds she must deal with her clone sister or face the gravest penalty of all, and the most extremist bishop calls for the planet's destruction. It is only after they are captured that Desa learns the full extent of the additional responsibility she has taken on by teaching Alan about the world, and the full price her heart will have to pay. The chase takes them across the city, across the planet and into the nature of reality itself.

It is the struggle of the Ava's to cover up their crime that really determines the fate of Alan, Desa and maybe billions more of the mortal humans on the planet below. The conscious entity that may be hiding in the circuitry of their simulated universes might be the being that holds the key that can unravel all that is unexplained about the study planet.

Until now there are several separate stories open in The Second Expedition. All the parts that seem to be unrelated come together in this volume. If you have read any later novels in the Gordon’s Lamp series you may be partially prepared for the shock of this ending. Even so, when it ends, you may not be totally sure what just happened.

Note:- It IS possible to read this story without the other two of the trilogy. The later stories of the Gordon's Lamp expedition (Love in Exile, The Tdeshi Quest, The Aluminum Quest, Tangle in the Dark and Vermin Rising) will make more sense after reading this.