Facilitators is a book about control or, more importantly, the lack thereof. It begins, in fact, with an abduction: Two oncologists (one British, one American) attend a seminar in Chicago, only to wake up one morning to find themselves on a planet many light years from Earth. Their abductors are a group of "enhanced" humans called vytoc, who have joined themselves to a extraterrestrial, crystalline matrix in order to gain immortality. They are much stronger than normal people and are capable of regenerative healing. They are nearly indestructible. And they must keep themselves apart from the rest of humanity, a position some vytoc find unconscionable. Hence the colonies on Latebra, where the vytoc hope to create a harmonious society of vytoc living openly among humans. Except things haven't quite gone according to plan. For one, Latebra is a hostile world, where everything from the air to the soil is hazardous to human life. The human population, therefore, remains confined under filtration domes, the largest having a diameter of approximately two miles. It protects the aptly named, Titan City, a small but massive metropolis, whose towers rise over 250 stories in height. Only a small percentage of native flora is deemed edible for human beings. Problem is, eating too much for too long causes cancer - hence the need for oncologists. Doctors White and Nielsen have been brought to help "update" the oncology lab at Titan's Research Hospital. The vytoc make it very clear: once you've come to Latebra, you'll never see the Earth again. Dr. Phil Nielsen, the Chicagoan, adamantly refuses to accept this fate, vowing to find a means of escape at any cost. He joins Titan's nascent resistance movement in hopes of finding a weapon capable of destroying the vytoc. Meanwhile, his friend and fellow doctor -- Londoner Nigel White -- has gone native, marrying a local girl and settling down to raise a family. One might think Dr. White has chosen the safer path. However, his sister-in-law, Cassandra Manning, once had an affair with a powerful vytoc "Facilitator." She was later found murdered, supposedly by an ex-boyfriend who did not want her joining the vytoc Grand Matrix. Now this Facilitator has shifted his focus to Cassandra's sister, Carlina, demanding that the mother of three take Cassandra's place in becoming the first Latebran-born vytoc. Unfortunately, Carlina is also Nigel's wife. Carlina refuses the Facilitator's proposition, but he is unwilling to accept "no" for an answer. Now Carlina and Nigel must turn to some very unlikely protectors - a group of vytoc with a reputation for unprovoked violence. Latebrans call them "star-devils." For Nigel, however, a deal with the "devil" might just be the thing he needs to return home again.
About the Author: Johanna graduated from Fort Hays State University with a degree in painting and a reputation for giving English professors grey hairs. The change-over from visual arts to writing is largely the fault of the National Novel Writing Month, in which she has participated (and "won") the last four years. She has travelled in Europe and England, the latter having had a permanent effect on her writing style. In her wanderings, she possesses an abnormal love for the tops of skyscrapers and other high places. She will climb any bell tower whose entrance isn't heavily padlocked. Ironically, much of her life has been spent in the state of Kansas, where seven stories up is considered a skyscraper, and elevators are regarded as grain storage units. She currently lives in the frontier town of Possum Trot with a pair of house rabbits.