forth could not exist in 2301. The document refers to "several centuries" of combined human/Majat government of the Hydri stars, which directly contradicts the document's own citation of first contact only 77 years before. Union first contact and subsequent colonization does not make sense beginning in 2223, but does fit well with Cherryh's timeline in 2623: Faster-than-light space travel is not invented in Cherryh's timeline until 2234, making colonization of the remote Hydri reach by anyone unlikely prior to that date. In the Alliance-Union timeline, Union itself was not formed until 2300, so it is not possible for Union to have begun colonizing the Hydri stars some 70 years before. Union began an aggressive colonization drive after the erosion of the Gehenna Doctrine in 2600, so a 2623 date is quite sensible for a Union first contact with the Majat. The Alliance-Union timeline on Cherryh's official Web site, which covers the period of 2005–2300, makes no reference of the 2223 contact, and in fact no reference at all to the Majat or the Hydri stars. The reason for the discrepancy is unclear. It is possible that the publisher mis-transcribed the dates from Cherryh's manuscript for Serpent's Reach. It is perhaps more likely that after having the opportunity to more fully develop her future history for the universe, Cherryh simply revised the dates in 1985 as a retcon. In any case, assuming the Angel with the Sword reference is correct (and that Serpent's Reach therefore dates itself inaccurately), the events in the novel begin in the year 3141, some 400 years after the conclusion of the Mri Wars, and 518 years after first contact with the Majat. Majat planet of origin Another discrepancy between the two books is the location of the Majat planet of origin, Cerdin, within the Alpha Hydri system. Serpent's Reach states that Cerdin is the third satellite of Alpha Hydri (i.e. Alpha Hydri III), but Angel with the Sword states that the Majat originated on Alpha Hydri II. There is no specific evidence presented in either book to help determine which is correct. Because the Serpent's Reach citation is from the same dubious document noted above, and under the assumption that the Angel with the Sword timeline is designed to function in part as a retcon, some readers may conclude that the correct listing for Cerdin is Alpha Hydri II. Others may decide that the original reference