The enforcer paused, staring at my mismatched features. Terran father and Gavoran mother—my face fit nowhere. To Terrans, my heavy brow ridge—not quite hidden by my yellow beret—and receding chin suggested brutish stupidity. To Gavorans, I was embarrassingly ugly: prominent Terran nose, ears too big, and bushy orange hair instead of a neat Gav pelt.
For a moment, my heart beat fast. Would he arrest me out of sheer anger? Out of suspicion? Did I face hours in a detention cell while a Selkid official considered the size of the bribe he’d need to confirm my identity as a free Terran?
With a snarl, the enforcer pushed past me to comb through the crowds at the next queue.
I breathed again. Ancestors, grant her courage.
It was only then, after the excitement was over, that I noticed blood dripping onto my left wrist. Damn! The collision had torn the graft that hid my old slave brand.
Acknowledgments
I wrote this book while sequestered at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. While writing is always a solitary effort, it is even lonelier while facing the same walls day after day with little opportunity to vary the scenery.
Isolation has made it all the more important to have helpful, constructive advice from my posse of critique partners from CritiqueCircle.com, including: Douglas Phillips, author of the Quantum Series books, Ophélie Quillier, Nancy LaRonda Johnson, and Lizzie Newell.
All mistakes about life in Alaska, flying a small plane, rural medical practice, camping, surviving the suicide of a loved one, and riding a mammoth are mine and mine alone.
Special thanks to the Kirkwood family, proprietors of the fabulous Kennecott Glacier Lodge in the heart of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
Fleetwood Robbins and Tammy Salyer were tremendous help in the editing stages.
Thanks to JD&J Design LLC for their fabulous covers.
Finally, as always, an infinity of thanks to my spouse, Ari Patrinos, for science consulting and his unflagging support, and to daughters Maritsa and Thalia for their support and patience with my technical questions.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kathryn Hoff has studied anthropology, manned the trenches on archeological digs, penetrated the mysteries of financial statements, and negotiated billion-dollar investments into developing countries. She has now graduated to making up stories. When not writing, she volunteers at a major zoo. Favorite animal: Heterocephalus glaber, the naked mole-rat.
