PREFACE This volume is at once a character study and an autobiography. I do not claim to include a complete record of my life, nor does I endeavor to recount the presence of every individual who has, in some measure, shaped me. Instead, I seeks to portray those figures...

Chapter 1 – Rumors in the Desert The desert was quiet. Maya Torres paused halfway up the sandstone slope, camera strap digging into her neck, as she listened. The wind had dropped away so completely she could hear the faint tick of grit settling against her boots. Above, the...