Yesterday's Pawn

the long version

Garry thinks he knows something that all of humankind would kill to have, the secret to the Faster-Than-Light drive. He believes that it is inside a Kurs’ggthan artifact. When a little man enters his father’s pawnshop and offers to sell the very artifact Garry has been searching for, he is bewildered by his good fortune. But he may not be as fortunate as he thinks. Now that he holds the key to the Faster-Than-Light drive, his father’s business has been destroyed, Garry’s on the run, his father is in critical condition and there are interstellar agents around every corner. Then Garry is posed with the question, is he helping to advance the human race or aiding in destroying it?