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 had actually more time to look around, to explore Alba than Mica did. He was so involved in his exercise, eating, and testing regimen that sometimes he did not appear at the dining hall or even the little house until I had gone to sleep. Sometimes the testing lasted all night and into the next day. He studied old books and manuals purporting to encourage mental toughness; he read them together with the doctors who had not themselves examined them but wanted to immerse Mica in total readiness. They were pushing him to the limit of his endurance to see what might allow him  and others to survive an unknown period underwater. I noticed that Mica had carved out time for silence and spiritual contemplation and prayer. He didn't tell me, but I knew, and I was glad for him.


Chapter 48: Why Shafts