Empyrean Stories: Short Tales of Empyrean Dreams : Nathan Large : 9780998660929 : 0998660922 : 06 Apr 2017 : Our Empyrean Dreams are stories from a future civilization, where Humankind is only one of several star-faring cultures struggling to coexist in a shared galaxy. The most powerful of these cultures are joined together in a treaty organization known as the Collective. Commerce and self-interest are the binding principles of the Collective: member states hold standing to the degree their culture proves its economic power and value to the whole. The ruling cultures of the Collective distinguish themselves by their unique innovations and capabilities; the Humans of Terra were fortunate to possess talents sufficient to earn membership. Outside of the Collective's elite, many more sentient species exist, either tolerating this authority as members or rejecting the Collective entirely. An uneasy peace holds both within and without this interstellar civilization. Most intelligent bein