A gentle alien medic, a runaway with secrets, and a small ship full of plants and quietly opinionated machines.
In a quiet corner of space, the medic Sairu flies alone. Almost. His ship, Ning's Mercy, is a small torus filled with hanging vines and warm light, and the augs in his neural mesh. They're fussy, curious, occasionally argumentative, and keep him company between rescues. When a distress beacon pulls him to a drifting yacht, he finds Ollin: young, injured, frightened, and running from a coming-of-age ritual she refused to complete.
Her people want her back. Sairu's mandate is care without coercion. And somewhere between the tea, the plants, and the patient asking what happens next, he has to figure out how to help her face her own future without choosing it for her.
Shepherd's Flight is a cozy science fiction novelette about gentle medicine, quiet courage, and the small good a person can do in a wide universe. Perfect for readers of Becky Chambers's A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Travis Baldree's Legends & Lattes, and anyone who likes their space soft, green, and a little brave.
Genre: Science Fiction
In a quiet corner of space, the medic Sairu flies alone. Almost. His ship, Ning's Mercy, is a small torus filled with hanging vines and warm light, and the augs in his neural mesh. They're fussy, curious, occasionally argumentative, and keep him company between rescues. When a distress beacon pulls him to a drifting yacht, he finds Ollin: young, injured, frightened, and running from a coming-of-age ritual she refused to complete.
Her people want her back. Sairu's mandate is care without coercion. And somewhere between the tea, the plants, and the patient asking what happens next, he has to figure out how to help her face her own future without choosing it for her.
Shepherd's Flight is a cozy science fiction novelette about gentle medicine, quiet courage, and the small good a person can do in a wide universe. Perfect for readers of Becky Chambers's A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Travis Baldree's Legends & Lattes, and anyone who likes their space soft, green, and a little brave.
Genre: Science Fiction
Used availability for Tom Dell'Aringa's Shepherd's Flight