David Selby was born and grew up in Berkeley, California. He taught elementary school in California, Mexico, and New Mexico for thirty-six years. He and his wife live in Northwest New Mexico.  He has written many short stories including the Joe the Man with Gills series. Mica is his first novel.

Mica, an expert navigator, uses the currents of the Darkstream to pilot his ship across the galaxy to join his love, Olivine. On the way, he befriends Ronnie, a stowaway who can look like a coat or a first aid kit, the mysterious Vuud, and the translucent “Slight People”. They experience the savage planet of Carnage and the whirling destruction of the Moon of 10,000 Drones before they even reach Olivine in the brand-new city of Garner in the midst of an unknown world.


Mica

Our ears popped as the air pressure suddenly dropped. The hiss of repair "glue" lasted about six seconds. The taste of the gooey tan stuff hung in Halcon's atmosphere sourly.


I headed down the passageway looking for the inevitable damage. I found it in the galley. Right next to one of the fresh food bins, a silver cylinder, about three inches wide and rounded at the tip. It looked like twelve inches of unexploded missile had penetrated our hull. It was sealed in place by the glue, but looked extremely menacing. I dragged the heavy exerstrider in front of the weapon so no one would bump into it or contact it in any way. Who knew what it might do?


I returned to the bridge and trained the ship's external viewer along Halcon's side. There it was, a few inches of the silver cylinder itself sticking out into space still attached to a wider thirty-six inch long booster rocket. I elbowed Rogere who was busily maneuvering Ben.


Chapter 36: Almost Home, Part 1