The Luminous Dead

Gyre Price has lied about her experience to secure a dangerous caving job. The payment could take her off-world and help her search for her mother, so she expects sophisticated support to match the expedition’s risks. Instead, her only contact is Em, a handler willing to manipulate Gyre’s body and withhold information to keep the mission moving. As Gyre descends, discrepancies in the route and supplies make Em’s motives increasingly suspect. Yet the woman controlling her equipment is also her connection to survival. Alone in a hostile underground environment, Gyre must distinguish real threats from fear while depending on someone whose knowledge of her lies is a powerful means of control.