Sam Ryan grew up on Orion 3, an Earth colony world with little technology. He looks like a young Leonardo DiCaprio.
The original colonists wanted to return to a simpler way of life. They were mostly farmers and miners, working the old way, with their hands. Later on they were too poor to be able to afford modern equipment. Sam Ryan saw much unnecessary suffering because of the poor medical facilities. When the colony doctor died, no one could be persuaded to take the post in that backwater, and they had to manage with a paramedic and nurses.
Sam’s brother Jacob was injured in a logging accident and lost his leg. Sam Ryan saw traders with prosthetic limbs leading normal lives, but the colony did not have the technology, and his family had no way to pay for it. Jacob died a bitter man, and he wasn’t the only one. Sam became determined to be trained as a doctor and return to help his people, so he left Orion 3 and went to Earth for medical training.
On Earth he had his eyes opened to what was available, not just the technology, but the attractions of a modern lifestyle. He completed enough of his training to work as a paramedic and when the opportunity arose to be part of PACT and go into space, he grabbed it. He told himself it was to gain experience, but for someone from a backwoods colony everything was new and exciting, and presented him with a dilemma: he doesn’t want to go back.
That dilemma is compounded when an injured woman with amnesia is brought on board Kestrel and he finds himself drawn to her. How Sam Ryan’s dilemma is solved is revealed at the end of Intruders, the first Kestrel story.
Ann Marie Thomas is the author of five medieval history books, a surprisingly cheerful poetry collection about her 2010 stroke, and the science fiction series Flight of the Kestrel, Intruders, Alien Secrets & Crisis of Conscience are out now Follow her at http://eepurl.com/bbOsyz