Beth Curtis

People tended to pity Kathleen (Beth) Elizabeth Curtis. Most people assumed the thirteen-year-old was a frightened little girl, who could barely function without help. Some even suggested she be locked up in a home because she was totally blind. However, her parents raised her to be as independent as possible. Being blind was no excuse for her not to stretch her limits and do what others considered impossible for her to do.

Beth awakens aboard the starship taking her from Earth back to her home world only to discover she is the only one awake on a starship that has been hijacked in mid fight. She levels the playing field by isolating the hijackers and turning off the lights before she goes on a hunt to take out the last of the hijackers. She later becomes a Star Pilot, a crew position that was only used if the navigational computer broke down and could not be repaired because Star Pilots tend to go mad, to save the passengers and the crews aboard her starship, and a second derelict starship.

-- J. Lesley Graham