Escape

Summer meant freedom. An Escape from academic responsibilities.

In this collection of tales, Escape becomes personal for some of the Space City Preparatory Academy students.

Nico has created a flying Venice sim to explore, but when he discovers invisible monsters on the prowl, and a classmate hacks the sim as a prank, he finds surviving to the end a precarious prospect. Trini is reluctant to assist her aunt in handling an infectious disease outbreak among the natives on the planet Letos, but a near fatal encounter with what was believed to be a mythical creature forces her to re-examine her perspective. When his father is seriously injured during a hunting trip on a remote exomoon, it is up to Jiro to locate help, a dicey prospect when two rogue aliens pick up their trail. Dirk and Arielle believe they are in for a nice weekend hike until an ambitious town official wants to frame them for a crime they didn't commit during their summer-abroad diplomat training program. Cade hopes to enter the dangerous Tefnot sub race on Araxia, only to be sold into slavery for his troubles.

​For these six, Escape means not just survival, but choosing the futures they want, no matter the odds.