On board the Estrella, research is the mission. Stationed on the outskirts of the known galaxy, the task of the crew is to study the space surrounding the station and to determine what lies beyond.
However, unknown to most of the crew, there is one...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
SIX months had passed. Six months in space, and Fen Jie missed home.
She sat in her quarters late at night, stretched out across her bed. The large window on the wall beside her bed was firmly shut, blocking out all views of space—as if that would help her mood. She was dressed for sleep, but knew she wouldn't be able to close her eyes anytime soon.
Yesterday was Jiahao's fifth birthday.
Her baby boy was five years old, and Fen Jie wasn't there to be with him, to hug him tight and tell him she loved him. That hurt, far more than she had expected it would when she left on this journey. Yes, she was able to call him and Yijun, to tell her son happy birthday, but she wished she could have been there, in person. At home.
She turned over onto her side, wrapping her arms around herself. The station was quiet in the night. Fen Jie knew that Riley would wake up to check on the reactor in the middle of the night, but otherwise everyone was asleep in their quarters. Everyone except for Fen Jie.
She closed her eyes. Her quarters, like most rooms on board, where minimalist and a pearlescent white that was hard to shut out. Having the lights out and window shut helped, but the bright shine was still there even in the dark. It wasn't home, and it never could be.
Fen Jie really, really wanted to go home.
—
AMINE was starting to worry about Bellamy.
They were both quiet people, Ammie knew that from the beginning, and it was why they worked so well together. Bellamy wasn't offended by Ammie just getting a feel for being around them at first, and didn't seem to think that her lack of speaking was a bad thing. Ammie just liked the quiet, liked to sit peacefully with their plants and tend to them like children. It made her happy.
Plants made Bellamy happy too, Ammie had known that for months. Bellamy told her themself. So it made sense when, a whole crop died two months into the mission, Bellamy was kind of broken up about it—Ammie was too. It was rough, especially since a great deal of what died was food crops meant to help keep them alive. Luckily Captain Malik understood that it was out of their control, but that understanding didn't make it hurt any less.
Bellamy took it really hard, though, harder than Ammie did. They were quieter than usual, lately, and seemed to be distracted during work. Ammie saw them staring out the windows a lot, their eyes unfocused. When Ammie drew their attention, they seemed startled, and they were definitely paler than they used to be—and Bellamy was already pretty pale.
Ammie knelt amongst the potato plants, their hands covered in dirt as they weeded. Bellamy stood at one of the raised beds, supposedly tending the rosemary, but they seemed distracted again, staring out the window. Ammie wasn't even sure they were aware of what they were doing. Their hands were still, and their eyes wide. Ammie brushed her hands on her pants and was preparing to stand when the door to the greenhouse-lab opened.
