Close Encounters

Overview: Award-winning author of science fiction novels, Katherine Allred was born in Arkansas and spent her formative years there learning to love books at her grandfather's knee. After receiving a BS in journalism from Arkansas State University, Allred began her writing in earnest. Kiera Smith is not like ordinary Genetically Engineered Persons . . .The Bureau of Alien Affairs needed a special GEP agent with empathic abilities to handle their most extraordinary assignments — and a rogue geneticist saw to it that Kiera fit their specifications. But she turned out stronger, faster, smarter, and more impervious to harm than anyone anticipated. A reluctant "superhero," Kiera wishes she were normal, but it is not to be.On Orpheus Two, the indigenous Buri race faces extinction, a prospect the powerful Dynatec corporation welcomes and, in fact, may be actively hastening. It is Kiera's job to protect these beautiful, exotic aliens . . . and to discover what there is on Orpheus Two that Dynatec feels is worth killing for.But the magnetic allure of Thor, the breathtaking Buri leader, is proving a dangerous distraction. And now, to save Thor's people, Kiera will need a power she's never before possessed — something hidden in the unexplored recesses of her heart.