| Nimisha's Ship is a science fiction novel by Anne McCaffrey.
Nimisha is a girl that grows up as a high society lady, in a universe where
the ultra-rich arrange marriages based on money and political advantage
of possible progeny, rather than love; as such, parents of a child
typically don't live together, and frequently can't stand one another.
Nimisha is trained by her mother to be well adjusted and on top of things
in her high society world, but corrupted by her father to love Engineering.
Nimisha's father is top engineer and owner of the largest shipyard
in his section of the universe.
As she matures, she becomes a ship designer as talented as her father with a good
dose of art appreciation and accounting from her mother.
As such, she designs a very elegant, efficent, and economical ship
full of leading edge technology of her own invention,
including a new space drive. While doing a test flight in
a little explored corner of the galaxy, an accident occurs,
and Nimisha's Ship is whipped to a totally uncharted solar system that
is years from her home, even with her newly invented and barely tested
engine.
Should she attempt to make the journey home? Will she survive
encounters
with the local alien life, both native and otherwise? Will her mother and
daughter ever see her again? Will she fall in love with the lieutenant
who already has a crush on her? Should she settle on this alien planet
and wait for rescue, possibly decades in coming, or attempt the trip
back herself? For the answer to these questions and others, read the book!
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