They called her 'Mouse'. Kie Loren just wanted to be left alone to study the music she loved. But now she was teamed up on a biological survey project with Ben Finn, the son of Mora and Gan Finn, the heroes credited with saving this newly terraformed world called 'Paradise'. It didn't help that Ben was handsome and irresistibly charming. The most infuriating part was that he knew it. Oh, and he also had chocolate... But Ben was the least of her problems. An alien civilization had begun terraforming this world long before humans arrived. And now they wanted it back.

The first terraformed world, Tau Ceti Four, was now ready for colonization. Some called it Paradise, and it seemed a fitting name. The initial conditions before the terraforming began were perfect, too perfect for botanist Mora Torr. Something was not right. Engineer Gan Finn came over with the other colonists on the Ark Hope ship. He, like Mora, was as much running away from an anguished past as seeking Paradise. But twelve light-years distance itself does not cure broken hearts. "So, are there any alien jubjub birds, bandersnatches, or jabberwocks around here I should be worried about?" Laughter rolled from her mouth at the Alice in Wonderland reference. "Oh, nothing like that. It's not the big scary creatures we should worry about, besides other humans that is, but the tiny ones. History has shown us that things like bacteria, virus, and small parasites are the real killers. The deadliest creature in all the human history is a mosquito with a pathogen." ** Re-edited ** ** Open Novella II - Short List and Ambassador Pick ** ** Wattpad Editor's Choice (January 2020) **