> I believe it was called "The Orb" but I could be wrong because I last read it 11 years ago. I can't remember who the author is, and can't find anything about it on the net. I remember people flying around in 1 man prototype fighter ships called "trodat star fighters." I believe they were supposed to be using the trodats to return a crystal to some orb, which was a very important thing to do for some reason. Beyond that, I remember nothing. Anyone have info on this book so I can start searching for it?

A quick look at amazon.com reveals four candidates: "Cannon's Orb" by L. Warren Douglas is a science-fiction book:

Cut off from other human colonies and menaced by a pirate blockade, the inhabitants of Cannon's Orb look to the alien psatla for help.

The dazzling new adventure from the acclaimed author of A Plague of Change. Alien-human symbiosis had saved the planet Phastillan. But introducing the strange psatla race to the conservative planet Cannon's Orb--and its human populace--led only to a violent rebellion.

The other three books with "Orb" in the titles that also are out of print are: "The Orb" by Margaret Elizabeth Foster, "Orb Weaver" by Robert Francis, and "The Unicorn Riders of the Orb" by Michael G. Moore. From the titles, the last two sound like fantasy books.

Enjoy the hunt!

-Faux "bookworm" Pas