Speculative Fiction

In 2075, forty years after most North American residents retreated to closed SafeCities, where Resident safety is assumed but personal freedom is limited, security investigator Rafaela (Rafi) Thorne lives a protected life as a member of one of the founding families. She and Detective Kees Gyselaer are searching for a potential cyber security threat when Rafi’s teenaged brother, Ric, disappears from the SafeCity network. Rafi’s plans to sneak out of New Spirit SafeCity and bring Ric home before anyone outside her family realizes she is gone are upended when she is caught near a hidden exit and ejected from the City for probable black market activities. Her prospects for success, or even survival, seem dim when she sees the sky darken ominously after less than an hour Outside.

While seeking shelter from the first real storm of her life, Rafi meets black market trader Corrick Shields. She accepts his help as she plans to find Ric and then trade information about his group to the Enforcers for a return to New Spirit. But as allies of convenience become friends and reshape her view of the truth about both the SafeCities and the Outsiders, Rafi develops a new plan that will only work if she can convince Corrick’s group to trust her despite her many lies. She promises to work for changes that will benefit both the City Residents and the Outsiders if they help her get back into New Spirit before her family is forced to admit she is gone. If she fails to convince them, they may throw her out of the community. Or worse.