To Earth and Back
Born into American society, then moved to Berlin during the Nazis’ rise to power, a young Jewish girl has no idea what lies ahead. Meanwhile, orbiting high above the earth, a young physician from a civilization light years away, studies and records her every move, hoping to better understand the Hebrew culture. Time goes by, and though they have never met, to him she seems like family. War finds the girl in her teens, and trauma exacts a heavy toll. She embarks on a pilgrimage which takes her from country to country only to leave her in ill health, without family, and an outcast among her own people. Then, when war looms again, the now 19-year-old woman is trapped in a hopeless, life-threatening situation. Painfully aware and thousands of miles out in space, the grief-stricken doctor goes before his ship’s council with an urgent plea. The council’s options are few—break strict protocol for the sake of their beloved physician or allow the young woman to perish. The courses of two civilizations hang in the balance.