Note: Translated by C. J. Cherryh and Bernard Kay.

Synopsis: From the back cover of the DAW first printing: "Are there parallel dimensions in which history turned out differently? Are there other universes with other Earths where the alternates became the realities? Here are two exciting science fiction novels of such an historical by-pass. Told with the color of the Crusades, reminiscent of the work of Harold Lamb, what would have happened had the Knights Templars really made the demonic alliance claimed by their royal rivals? The "demon" was Baphomet - a stranded alien - and he gave the Templars the atomic arms and equipment to create an empire Baphomet needed for his own outer-space allies. But even the cunning of an alien could not outwit the fanaticism and determination of Crusaders bent on conquest - and when they turned his atomic gifts upon Baphomet's home worlds... Two fabulous novels of the terrestrial empire upon which our sun never rose and the cosmic empire upon which our sun will never set."