Wonderful people throughout the author's life provided unique and irreplaceable lessons and inspirations:
Juniper
Russell
Esther
Smith
Vicky Ball
Dottie Frisbie
Linda
Dezzutti Martha
Higgins
Jennifer Carolyn Gates
Susanne Koller
Rachael
Bleich Charleen
Cox
Paula Wells
Meredith Herzog
Sarah
Satterthwaite
Patricia
Sharp
Ashley
Riddle Antonya
Pickard
Valuable readers gave the author feedback after digging through early drafts of the book:
Mitchell
Bendis
Patrick
Murray
Beth
Littlewolf Deborah
Meier
Ardith Libby
Dan Clark
Cecelia
Harper
Karen
Oster
Holly
Chalcraft
Toni
Corkran
Karen Pihlak
Shelley Johnson
Brendan Aragorn
Excellent critiquers commented on thousands of passages, then provided reactions during in-depth interviews:
Sidney Oster, 8
Dylan Oster, 10
Sarah Bray, 10
Joshua Clark, 10
Jessica Johnson, 10
Catherine “Cat” Harper, 11
Aditya Srinivasan, 11
Jasper W. Romero, 13
Mariah Bruns, 14
Kristen Voie, 14
Hannah Li Powers, 15
Alex Chalcraft, 15
Kathryn C., 16
Abby Powers, 17
Brie Polette, 17
Elwin Aragorn, 17
Rachael
Hedges
Winn
Barrientos
Careful publishing assistants, proofreaders, and technical helpers brought the final manuscript as close to perfection as possible: Sarah Bray, 12
Joshua Utter, 15
Katelynn Persons, 15
Amanda Herman, 17
Deborah
Meier
Norma
Ashley
Tim Kutscha
Contents
1 A World Apart.................................................................... 1
2 Mountain
Paths .................................................................6
3 Blind Faith on an Empty Stomach ...................................17
4 Logic and Inner Sight ......................................................22
5 Lights ...............................................................................32
6 Particle Physics and Existential Rules ............................39
7 Hardtack and Hard Choices ............................................46
8 The Way Down.................................................................56
9 A Final Farewell...............................................................63
10 Moving On .......................................................................70
11 The High Desert............................................................... 75
12 Cattle Town......................................................................83
13 Changing the World......................................................... 91
14 Ilika’s Big Mistake ...........................................................99
15 A Time of Healing.......................................................... 107
16 The Plan ..........................................................................113
17 The Long Road Home.....................................................121
18 The End of Many Stories ............................................... 127
19 Choices........................................................................... 135
20 Parting Ways.................................................................. 143
21 The Ship ......................................................................... 152
22 Manessa Kwi.................................................................. 156
23 What Would I Do? ......................................................... 168
24 Preparing for Trouble.................................................... 176
25 Steward .......................................................................... 185
26 Engineer......................................................................... 195
27 Watch.............................................................................203
28 Navigator .......................................................................222
29 Pilot................................................................................220
30 Holy Cause ..................................................................... 227
31 Flight Preparations........................................................235
32 First Flight .....................................................................243
33 An Old Friend ................................................................252
34 The Last Stop ................................................................. 257
“I come from a place where everyone has great power, by your standards, and they steadfastly refuse to use it for self-aggrandizement . . . anywhere . . .
ever.”
— Ilika, concerning Buna’s plan at Cattle Town
NEBADOR Book Three: Selection 1
