Swift To Chase is a story collected in the book [[Not A Speck Of Light (Book)]]. The story features recurring character [[Jessica Mace]] as its protagonist, on a mission to steal a secret formula for scientist duo [[Toshi Ryoko]] and [[Howard Campbell]] from _"[Jessica's] nemesis, billionaire avian enthusiast and casual murderer of humans, Averna Spencer."_ at her estate in the Aridondacks mountain range in [[Upstate New York]]. In order to meet Averna Spencer, Jessica attends a ornithologist's lecture in Kingston, NY. Kingston is the backdrop for multiple of Barron's stories. Averna mentions the story events of [[Tomahawk Park Survivors Raffle]] and what happened to Jessica's mother [[Lucius Lochinvar]]: "Something happened to your mother as a young woman. She met a friend of mine, a foreigner, you might say, who contracted with the CIA to enhance various programs. Lucius was part of an experiment, alongside many of her friends. She and the other surviving test subjects have been remotely monitored since the latter 1970s, as are their offspring. The… conditions that altered Lucius bloomed within you, yet skipped your brothers, Elwood and Bronson. Curses can be finicky." (Not A Speck Of Light, p. ) The bodyguard of the scientist duo - and Jessica's boyfriend - [[Beasley]] also appears in the story. In the story, Ryoko and Campbell are old men, retired to a decrepit farm in New England. This would place the story somewhat before the events of the events in [[Worse Angels]], where Ryoko and Campbell are said to have permanently moved to California after having lived in New England for a few years. The formula that Jessica has to steal might be related to the massive dragon known as the Gore King, who gets into a fight with cyborg dog [[Rex]] two million years in the future, in the story [[Soul Of Me]]. There's multiple references to Jessica's encounter in [[Alaska]] with the [[Eagle Talon Ripper]], described in the story [[Termination Dust]]. Averna Spencer's estate is guarded by _"ex-military goons provided by Black Dog"_. Black Dog is a mercenary company appearing in all three [[Isaiah Coleridge Series]] novels: [[Blood Standard]], [[Black Mountain]] and [[Worse Angels]]. Barron's fifth short story collection is also called [[Swift To Chase (Book)]], but doesn't contain this story. #Story #Speck