Cogswell contacted young writer Spano, Jr., and ask if he would be interested in co-authoring a "Star Trek" novel on Pohl's behalf. Spano agreed, and wrote a majority of the first draft in late-1975, inspired by then recent 1973 oil crisis. Spano said in "Voyages of Imagination" that although it had roots in the rise of Islamism, the premise of the novel was a familiar one, "the idea that a fanatical desert leader could arise to threaten a civilisation was a staple throughout history."