Fleet Lieutenant Gain Ford has never wanted to be a hero. He’s content to fly supply runs wherever and whenever they’re needed, because they give him the opportunity to be alone in the vast reaches of space. There, he’s his own boss, and he can let his imagination run free.
But things change when he’s asked to make a run to the New Phoenix colony. It’s a colorful place where very little ever goes wrong... at least for the humans. For the Uuvali, the planet's original residents, things are more complicated. They've been working as helpers and servants for the past two hundred years, which they've been glad to do. They're quiet, gentle and kind.
They're also easy to blame.
When the colony's infrastructure begins to break down, the colonists begin to point to the Uuvali as the cause of their problems, and no one is willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. It’s a situation Gain Ford would rather not be a part of, until one of the colony’s younger residents begs for his help—because the governor is a woman he once loved, someone who might listen to him if he tells her what’s gone wrong.
He’d really rather do nothing, but if he doesn’t act, New Phoenix and the thousands of innocent Uuvali will fall victim to a madman who would like nothing better than to see the entire colony burn to the ground.
Genre: Science Fiction
But things change when he’s asked to make a run to the New Phoenix colony. It’s a colorful place where very little ever goes wrong... at least for the humans. For the Uuvali, the planet's original residents, things are more complicated. They've been working as helpers and servants for the past two hundred years, which they've been glad to do. They're quiet, gentle and kind.
They're also easy to blame.
When the colony's infrastructure begins to break down, the colonists begin to point to the Uuvali as the cause of their problems, and no one is willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. It’s a situation Gain Ford would rather not be a part of, until one of the colony’s younger residents begs for his help—because the governor is a woman he once loved, someone who might listen to him if he tells her what’s gone wrong.
He’d really rather do nothing, but if he doesn’t act, New Phoenix and the thousands of innocent Uuvali will fall victim to a madman who would like nothing better than to see the entire colony burn to the ground.
Genre: Science Fiction
Used availability for Carol Davis's Horizon