CHAPTER 1
GEMINI
Gemini tried notto roll her eyes as Halley and Cassio flirted over dinner.
Yet again.
Halley coiled a strand of dark hair around her finger, her fake giggle like nails on a chalkboard after a month spent on site with her and the rest of the NovaFlora Genesis crew. They were on Thitis 4X, a small planet located on the edge of the Fringe—the region of explored space with known sentient species.
In two weeks, they’d be witnessing the blooming of theLumaria vitellus, an intriguing plant that Gemini hoped would revolutionize hormonal regulation and menstrual health. If they could successfully clone the spores back on Earth, it could improve the lives of countless people.
She tried to remind herself of this as the volume of Halley’s giggle increased to nauseating levels, Cassio’s hand on her thigh tracing higher and higher with each breath.
“I’m going for a walk,” Gemini grumbled, though no one seemed to listen.
Castor was glued to his console, oblivious to Cassio and Halley’s ministrations, waving a hand as Gemini stepped away from the fire.
“Don’t hurry back, Hawthorne,” Halley said, and Gemini stifled a groan, crumpling her empty ration packet and tossing it in the recycler.
She slung her pack over her shoulder and hurried away from the campsite, Halley’s grating laugh ringing in her ears like the galaxy’s most annoying alarm.
All the suffering will have been worth it when Gemini collected the released spores so they could continue their studies, though it was difficult to remember as she yawned from lack of sleep, forced to hear the grunts of her two horny coworkers each night.
No human had ever witnessed the blooming of the vitellus—what the locals called orb glows—since Thitis 4X had only recently opened for trade with the Federated League of Worlds, the conglomerate of planets that had absorbed Earth decades ago.
Each member species held a position on the advisory council, which worked with the UnifiedPresident to make decisions that affected the billions of residents in FLOW space. Not every planet had joined the Federated League of Worlds, so places like Thitis 4X were still relatively unexplored and unknown by FLOW standards.
Gemini had been an obvious choice for this mission with her expertise in plant-based hormonal therapeutics, one of the first serious off-planet jobs she’d been picked for. She’d worked her ass off for NovaFlora for the past ten years, sacrificing her social life and mental health, with endless hours of overtime at the lab.
She deserved to be here, even if sometimes she felt like an imposter.
Besides, this wasn’t necessarily one of the most coveted jobs, not when the subfield of reproductive and hormonal health was valued so little by a company that only cared about profit. The working conditions made the lack of respect more than clear.
Nothing but space rations for weeks, flavorless bars packed with all the nutrients one needed, but with none of the pleasure of eating real food. Not to mention the fact that they were sleeping in primitive tents instead of setting up a temporary base with proper beds; the sounds of her amorous coworkers fraternizing each night only increasing her frustration.
Whatever was going on between them hadhappened fast, as far as Gemini could tell. She supposed that was how it went for some on isolated missions like this, months away from Earth with no one but their colleagues to keep them company.
Not for her, though.
She preferred no strings attached sex with people she’d met on the hookup apps back on Earth, one night of fun and nothing more. No awkward encounters or potential for hurt feelings.
Halley and Cassio, on the other hand, had bunked up almost immediately, and Castor didn’t seem to care—or even notice. The mission leader was too busy with his fancy gadgets, so different from the archaic pen and paper Gemini enjoyed using. At least he seemed authentically interested in the orb glows, but he was beyond clueless about anything outside of the xenobotanical sphere.
It was a shame NovaFlora didn’t place more importance on such a potentially monumental study, but that was the way of things. Everything was about how to make the quickest profit, not how to actually help people.
But some things were more important than money, and Gemini had a deep-seated sense that she was meant to be here.
Easy for her to say as she trudged along the path, the dusky moonlight guiding her way. The ominous red of Thitis 4X’s natural satellite bathed theatmosphere in an eerie glow, purple lights dotting the forest floor like hundreds of tiny fairies.
It was theViolaceum psathyrella, a bioluminescent fungus they had been studying, which they believed had the potential to boost brain health and cell regeneration. The team had collected numerous samples and spores to be cultivated back on Earth and tested at the NovaFlora labs.
The mushrooms were stunning, especially at this late hour, and Gemini shuffled through the contents of her pack until she found her AnaCam, a device for taking analog photos. It was a rare piece of tech she didn’t loathe using because it was one of the few things without integrated artificial intelligence.
She hated how much she had come to rely on AI, though she was no different from most people on Earth, the technology so intricately intertwined into human life that it was difficult to separate yourself from it even if you wanted to. She had another reason to hate AI too, one that would have been laughable if it weren’t so fucking sad, but she tried not to dwell on it.
Not while she was out here, light-years away from the source of her hatred.
With a single snap, her cam spat out a small photo, a perfect replica of the scene in front of her. A digital copy was sent directly to her console, but she tucked the print into her notebook for later beforecontinuing on, eager to drown out the conversation drifting from the campsite with the tranquil sounds of the alien planet.
