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

I like to travel; I get thrilled when I see new places. So, it hadn't taken too much prodding by Vuud, Ronnie, and then Olivine to get me to rent an inexpensive brush skimmer for a trip to Pyrite. I asked Vuud if he'd like to accompany me and he said he'd like that. He suggested that on our way back, since we had a Skimmer, how would I feel about setting it down in the Fallows somewhere not too far from Garner so that he could pursue his plant remedy research for a day or maybe two.I was all for it.


The skimmer was good. It used a standard burn drive and if you got up several kilometers, you could add the sonic sister (called a burp backup for its odd noise at high speeds) and really move. We expected to make Pyrite in two plus hours.


Chapter 40: A Visit to the South, Part 1