Chapter 1
GEMINI
Gemini tried not to roll her eyes as Halley and Cassio flirted over dinner.
Yet again.
In two weeks, they’d be witnessing the blooming of the Lumaria 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 Unified President 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 had happened 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 the atmosphere in an eerie glow, purple lights dotting the forest floor like hundreds of tiny fairies.
It was the Violaceum 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 before continuing on, eager to drown out the conversation drifting from the campsite with the tranquil sounds of the alien planet.
Cassio and Halley’s antics weren’t going to ruin this for her.
At least that’s what she tried to tell herself as she stomped deeper into the mistforest, immediately consumed by the perpetual low-hanging fog, sweat beading on her skin. The artificial atmosphere generator kept their campsite blessedly cool, but out here in the elements she felt truly alive.
Like she was one with the flora and fauna.
The team had been making preparations for weeks, scanning the forest floor to find the dormant orb glows, crystalline seeds buried underneath layers of bioluminescent moss and absorbing cosmic radiation.
They were studying other plants too, of course, but the pièce de résistance would be the Lumaria vitellus.
There wasn’t much of a clear administration on Thitis 4X, not compared to the expansive galactic government she was used to, but they’d been given a special dispensation to seek out the orb glows and collect spores by the Oslieths, an intelligent humanoid species that called this planet home.
Masses of Oslieths had been wandering around the transpo center in Aerumi—the city closest to their mission site—when they had arrived on their ship, the humanoid appearance and ultraviolet skin a dead giveaway.
It always surprised Gemini how similar some extraterrestrial species looked to each other, though convergent evolution was as good an explanation as any.
Aside from the purple-blue skin, most of the Oslieths looked quite human; bipedal, two arms, slightly larger than the average person, but not by much. They wore a variety of clothing, but comparable enough to styles back on Earth, more skewed toward simple silhouettes and jewel-toned fabrics.
Some of the Oslieths were unique, easily seven feet tall with two strange tentacle-like appendages extruding from what appeared to be their upper backs, waving behind their bodies like extra arms. Others seemed abnormally small, though she was certain they weren’t children, often seen in the company of one of the tentacled behemoths.
The FLOW knew little about Oslieth culture, just that they were relatively peaceful and eager to trade with the hundreds of species within the galactic government’s purview, but unwilling to join.
A diplomat had greeted the team and got them set up with the supplies they’d ordered, and after a day in a swanky Aerumi hotel, they were off into the depths of the Lumeris Mistforest.
A deep breath escaped her as she ambled through the glade they’d spent much time in, fern-like Minima arboreus brushing against her bare legs. She was careful not to stomp on any of the delicate plants with her heavy boots, the little glowing yellow lights at the apex of each leaf lighting her way.
The sounds from the campsite were long gone, and the serenity of the mistforest lay before her.
The sky was mottled out here on the edges of deep space, purples and blues and reds, unfamiliar stars dotting the swirls of galaxies.
It was awe-inspiring, so unlike anything she’d ever experienced.
A person would be lucky to see a single star through the smog of Neuroplex Prime, one of the largest cities on Earth and the home of NovaFlora Headquarters.
Here, she was surrounded by the most magnificent vegetation, things beyond her wildest dreams.
A strange aroma wafted past her nose, strange only because it was new, though she had spent many days out here in the forest. It had the crisp, refreshing scent of pine, though there weren’t any conifers in this area, as far as she knew.
And the smell was strong, sharp and resinous, like she’d been dropped in the middle of a candle factory that made only one delicious scent.
She found herself following the aroma, wandering until it began to grow stronger and continuing on in that direction.
Was there a patch of conifers somewhere around here? It was one of her favorite scents, reminding her of the coziness of winter even though she was in the middle of a stifling forest during this planet’s version of summer.
As Gemini came out into a small clearing, she paused, an intriguing plant in front of her.
It had a bulbous red base—like a pincushion or a sea urchin without its spines—which was about the size of an apple with a long, black stem protruding from the top.
A sharp, dagger-like pistil poked out viciously from a ring of glittering red petals, the dangerous appearance intriguing her as she bent down to examine it.
Gemini grabbed her field notebook and pen, jotting down some notes and a quick sketch.
She preferred her initial study to be on paper, the physicality of her words being etched onto something real and not just typed into a console that would pop up with suggestions no matter how many times she tried to turn those features off.
She wanted her first thoughts to be her own, untainted by artificial intelligence in any way. And beyond that, there was something so quaint about having all of her original notes together like that, her initial impressions that had nothing to do with how the plants could make NovaFlora money.
After each away mission, she scanned her notebooks into her console, spending time cleaning up her initial sketches and adding color.
Combined with her photos, she had an extensive collection of botanical studies like the old almanacs and field guides from Earth that she loved to check out at the digital library.
She dreamt of creating her own botanical diary someday, a compilation of her studies complete with handwritten notes and drawings. As she finished up her sketch, she put her notebook away, crouching down once more to take a photo with her AnaCam.
Before she had a chance, a crack echoed through the forest like a gunshot, and she jumped up, the plant completely forgotten. Her eyes darted around the area to see what had made the noise, a line of bushes a short distance away obscuring much of the view.
When had it gotten so dark? She could no longer hear Halley’s annoying laugh, though she couldn’t be that far from camp. How long had she been walking?
Gemini glanced at her wrist out of habit, only to realize she hadn’t brought her comm. Fuck. She’d taken it off to shower, her nightly ritual after a sweaty day in the field, and in her rush for some alone time she’d left it at camp.
There weren’t supposed to be any large predators in this sector, though, of course, that was based on what little information they had about the planet. It was still a bit of a mystery here on the outskirts of the Fringe, and as a strange yelp pierced the night air, she made her decision.
Run.
Gemini took off into the forest, but it was difficult to see with only the satellite to light her way. Probably a bad decision, knowing there were some animals you weren’t supposed to run from, but it was like her prey instincts had kicked in and all she could think about was escaping.
She held her arms up as she sprinted, trying to avoid getting smacked in the face with a rogue branch, though she should have been more concerned with what was on the ground. Her ankle gave out as her foot came down hard on a crooked root, and she tumbled to the forest floor in a heap.
A sharp pain radiated up her leg, her wrists tender where they had collided with the hard dirt. She was flat on her stomach, quickly flipping onto her ass and grabbing her booted foot as she tried to see anything in the darkness.
If she got eaten by some vicious alien beast because of Halley and Cassio, oh, she would most definitely haunt them.
Gemini trembled, the chill of fear taking a bite out of the relentless heat, though she cocked her head in confusion as something revealed itself from the brush.
A cat.
Well, what appeared to be an alien version of a cat. It was bright blue, with dark, beady eyes, and overly large, triangular ears, a glowing white orb in the center of its chest. It was slightly larger than the average house cat on Earth, but padded over with the same delicate grace.
Strange, but what happened next surprised her most of all.
“Hello,” the cat said, and Gemini’s eyes widened with shock.