The Memory Dance

Katayaa is a survivor. This one fact has defined her life. She survived a childhood in an environment that should never have sustained her. She survived encounters with those who wished to harm her for reasons she could not comprehend. She survived the attack that wiped nearly her entire species from the galaxy. She survived the crash of her ship onto an enemy world. But now, the very thing that has always defined her is being put to the test. Held captive, studied, and monitored by the Arahz—a culture that seems as intent on keeping her alive as it is on hunting down every remnant of her kind—Katayaa has lost control over even the circumstances of her captivity. And she cannot escape the feeling that she has forgotten something important. With nowhere else to turn, Katayaa looks inward, using a technique she learned as a child to descend into her own memories. Through the Shorta’diel—the Memory Dance—she begins exploring her past, searching for truths the Arahz seem to already know. But memory changes with perspective. Moments she thought she understood begin to look different through adult eyes. Old certainties fracture. And beneath them, Katayaa begins to glimpse the hidden forces that have shaped her life without her knowledge. Somewhere in her past is the key to her future—if she has the courage to survive finding it.