This is the July 2008 issue of the story. This issue of the serial is available online without charge or as a printed book from lulu.com for $7.67.
Issue 1: Enslaved is the first of three issues in the "Away From Home" arc. It contains chapters one to five of the story.
The issue is approximately 16,300 words in total. The print version contains 53 pages and uses 6x9 inch formatting. With the exception of formatting differences between HTML and PDF, the story text is the same in both versions.
Description
Welcome to the worlds of Newhope and Aster. Humanity has been split between these two planets for hundreds of years. Despite the differences they share, these two civilizations have maintained a peaceful relationship thus far. In fact, their distinct cultures have even mixed to some positive effect. But not everyone is happy with this interbreeding of sorts. A select few are even willing to kill in order to stop the healthy relationship between the planets. But in acting secretly, can anyone stop these few from accomplishing their disastrous goals?
Meeki is a rather ordinary woman living on the planet of Aster. During the planet's "Week of Motivation" celebration, she reluctantly decides to clean her messy apartment. But on the second day of cleaning she receives a visitor enshrouded in heavy clothing. Even worse, this mysterious visitor is part of the "Cult of Braya" and requests that Meeki act as a greeter in business with the government.
Before she knows it, Meeki finds herself trapped in an assassination scheme, threatened by a man whose identity is unknown to even the highest ranking cult members. Can Meeki perform the acts this man asks of her? Will she manage to get out of it alive at all? To make matters worse, she also has a run-in with other terrorists. This is definitely not the week she envisioned having.