The planet was small and green, nestled in the traces of pink space dust. A dwarf planet, maybe? It was hard to tell the ecosystem from here, but it was clearly lush with alien flora.
“Verdaan,” Moss said grandly. “The nylarian homeworld, where my spores first sprouted.”
What?Torian nearly balked. “Hang on. When you were talking about nylarians, I thought they were visitors. You’re saying the nylarians were fromthissolar system?”
“Yes. Humans are the visitors here.” It sounded like that was obvious.
Torian’s brain raced. A new planet. The nylarian homeworld. Considering theDestitutehad been found on a human station, there was strong evidence that nylarians and humans could tolerate similar climate ranges. Their planet looked green and habitable, at least from this distance—which meant this was asecondoption to Rhymarra. Unless Moss had drastically changed the ship’s interior to accommodate her, nylarians must have similar oxygenrequirements. If Rhymarra didn’t work out… Torian knew where she wanted to explore next.
This discovery could change everything.
“Is that where the maintenance base is?” The flickers in space were forgotten as she gazed at fresh hope: a planet that might be habitable,mightbe a replacement for Rhymarra and their infamously tough meritocracy.
And then Moss ruined it. “No. It would be inefficient to perform starship maintenance on a planet.”
“Oh, of course,” Torian replied, forcing reason back into her dreams. There was very little chance she could convince Celise to settle on an alien planet anyway. Even if it was habitable, it was likely already occupied by dangerous fauna—and Celise valued community above all else. What would they be? Castaways on a deadly planet no one else knew existed?
Hope fizzled, and Torian pushed past the sudden disappointment. She had to focus on the problem at hand. “If the planet isn’t our destination, where are we going, then?”
At that moment, theDestitute’s auto-navigation smoothly steered them right, rounding the planet. As they moved past a few asteroids, a space station appeared on Verdaan’s horizon line, half-bathed in sunlight.
Moss said, unnecessarily, “Thatis our destination.” It didn’t sound enthusiastic as it added, “Welcome to Vaesa.”
CHAPTER 7
The term “space station” didn’t do it justice. Colony 13 was a space station, a single rod with rotating rings, crafted with the same blueprints as every other station in their system. Human space stations were functional, bland, and built from iron—the easiest substance to find in space.
Vaesa, meanwhile, was a work of art.
When she was young, Torian was assigned to make a diorama of this solar system: Rhymarra, plus two planets with failed terraforming attempts, three gas giants beyond, and the human space stations built in various locations. The result was a chaotic collection of foam spheres sticking from a center sun with wooden dowels, accented by eighteen squigglies of pipe cleaner.
Vaesa looked like that, except more geometric, more intentional. Foam spheres became hexagonal domes: the upper half windows constructed with honeycomb supports, the bottom half a solid metal base. The dowels became long, white tubes that connected each dome, some of which were as wide as theDestitute. The pipe cleaners mirrored the asteroids, misshapen and unpredictable.
In the center was Vaesa’s crowning glory, a massive dome occupied by the biggest tree Torian had ever seen. Its leaves were crystal blue, gleaming in the reflected light of the nebula. It was surrounded by a forest of normal green trees, but that main tree made them appear very, very small.
“What did the nylarians use this space station for?” Torian asked. “Population overflow?”
Moss sounded exasperated. “No. The nylarians are exceedingly long-lived and reproduced slowly. Like most space stations, this was a waypoint to make space travel easier. Do not be fooled by its appearance—it is nothing so majestic.”
“It looks majestic.” Torian couldn’t hide the wonder in her voice.
“You are mistaken. The nylarians wanted space to feel like their home, and so Vaesa has sixteen biomes across its domes, each with its own ecosystem. It is, frankly, chaos.” A pause. “And if you are impressed by the blue tree in the center, don’t be. It is an inconsiderate asshole.”
Torian never should have taught Moss that insult. She was startled into a laugh, even as theDestituteapproached the space station. It was vaguely intimidating to see the huge space station growing bigger and bigger, but it did offer a perfect view of the asshole tree. “What’d the tree do to you?”
Moss sat in petulant silence before replying, “It is an offshoot of the oldest kerrac forest on Verdaan. It thinks that time made it ‘wiser,’ and years of nylarian worship did nothing to temper that absurd attitude.” If a living computer could infuse a scoff into its tone, Moss managed it. “As if a tree can outlive moss. I am ancient.Iam wise.”
“You are indeed wise.” Torian patted the center console reassuringly, being careful not to touch Moss’s actual moss. “I’m shocked the tree is still alive, if the nylarians are all gone.” A hesitant pause. “Is—anything still living on the space station?”
Would they have company?
Moss seemed confused. “There are many things living on the space station. The tree, the forests, plus the biomes in each dome. Is your human memory bank malfunctioning?”
They were soaring between the domes now, navigating to the center of the space station. It was like flying between a bunch of lollipops, except the sticks all connected in a haphazard fashion. Torian snorted, pushing off the pilot’s chair. There wasn’t anything to do here—the auto-nav system clearly had a procedure todock without her input, and she doubted it’d let them leave Vaesa until repairs were complete.
And frankly, now that there was a whole space station to explore, Torian figured they could stick around for a bit. Not forever, not enough to risk Celise, but… well, shereallywanted to see what nylarian living was like.
“I meant aliens. Are we going to find any aliens on this space station?” She paused in the sleeping pod, where she’d discarded her clothes from yesterday—and her gun. If she was going into an alien space station, she wanted a weapon. Even jelly bullets would incapacitate a predator for a time.
