Book excerpt: Nivala is scheduled for a routine tour of duty in the Major Shells, but the Chakrans have other ideas — ideas that will take the small ship and her unique crew light years away from home. In another part of the galaxy, Maise Avalon is having a bad day. A really bad day. Her unreliable stepbrother just wagered their ship away, and no ship means no income. She needs a job, and there is only one thing she might get someone to pay her for ... navigating the deadly tides of the infamous Slipstream Alley, where the odds of survival are the lowest in the system. Just when things are beginning to look up, she realizes that her new employers are not the usual adrenaline seekers, their ship is older than Methusalah — and they are on a wanted list. This isn’t going to end well. Nivala is on her way to join them in one of the most inhospitable places in the universe, but will she get there in time? For those reading the series in order, this book is set a decade after the end of Supershell Storm. The series starts with the Interstellar Enforcement Agency trilogy, then Supershell Storm, then Slipstream Alley. Gillian Andrews is also the author of the award-winning Ammonite Galaxy series, and the stand-alone book, Kelfor. Useful keywords: Aliens Extraterrestrials AI Sentient Being Cosmic Contact First Encounters Quantum Entanglement Exploration Outer space Galactic Patrol Universe Star-ship Spaceship Spacer Spacecraft Spacewalk Humor Upbeat Banter Good over Evil Moral Kind Spacetime Wormhole Black Hole Timeline Teleport Hyperspace Warp drive Faster than light F.T.L.