It was a late hour as Apollonia stood outside of Brooks’s door.

Word had spread across the Craton about why they had come to this system, which she had also heard was not even in the Union. Some of the stories were rumors, for sure. They always seemed to start and then die off quickly – despite people’s propensity for them, the Union hated rumors. She’d even heard a few PSAs about the topic, how they could hurt morale or cause panic.

Of course, the rumors she heard were usually from her friend Ann, and usually salacious or exciting, rather than fear mongering.

But whether they were true or not, they had come to a planet that was new to Apple, and she had thus far not gotten to see a world that wasn’t Earth.

She didn’t want to miss this one.

Of course, she wasn’t sure how to broach the topic to the Captain. He was probably asleep, she mused.

A message pinged on her system and she looked at her tablet.

Are you going to come in? It was from Brooks.

Perhaps, she thought, he was not asleep.

Going into the room, Apollonia stopped.

The cabin was not really much different from her own. It had more furniture, yes, she still hadn’t really gotten around to decorating, but Brooks seemed to like things open and simple. It wasn’t even that big, relative to hers; there was a little more space, where he had a work table for captain stuff, and mementos and curios hung on the walls or sat on shelves. But it was very simple, really.

Brooks was sitting at a second desk, on which was a model plane. She had no idea what kind, but he had the front compartment of it opened, and a tiny replica of an engine lay exposed.

“Hello,” he said, glancing up to her.

“Oh, wow,” she said. “You really do build model planes.”

“Did you think I lied?” he asked, smiling slightly.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“No, just . . . Well, that’s cool,” she replied awkwardly.

Brooks caught it, but just seemed more amused. “I’m going to be off the ship for some time, so I wanted to take the last chance I could. I had hoped to finish and fly it before getting deployed onto Ko, but I think that was optimistic.”

“Will it really fly?” Apollonia asked.

“It should, even in one G,” he told her. “The engine is a miniature of the actual thing, scaled down. With modern materials the weight-to-lift ratio is in my favor.”

“Where are you going to fly it?” she asked. “Is there anywhere open enough on the Craton?”

The Equator seemed an obvious choice, but the odds of it careening into someone’s head seemed high.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “Maybe I’ll take it down onto a planet someday.”

“Hope some big space eagle doesn’t eat it,” she added.

He frowned. “I hadn’t thought of that. It’s plausible on some worlds.” He put down the plane. “Actually, on Ko. There are some very large flying animals down there.”

“I’ve heard,” Apollonia said, her heart starting to beat faster. “They’re kinda like pterosaurs. Lots of big, awesome things down there. I heard some people say they’re almost like dinosaurs.”

“I bet anyone who loves dinosaurs would be excited to go down there,” Brooks added.

Apollonia was thrown off. “Yeah so, on that topic . . . I was wondering . . .”

“You can be a part of the surface mission,” Brooks told her. “If, by chance, that interests you.”

Apollonia let out a sound that she could only have described as a squee.

“Ohholydarkinshit yes,” she breathed. She snapped into the best salute she could manage. “Specialist Apollonia Nor reporting for planet-side duty, Captain!”

“You’ll be attached to Cenz’s command,” Brooks told her. “As a medical volunteer – Y told me about your interest, and this is where you’d start up on the ship, too. Your direct supervisor will be Dr. Zyzus, who is going to be running the medical wing at Outpost Alexa.”

“Not Dr. Y?”

“He’ll be indisposed, providing remote medical support to the surface missions.” Brooks paused, considering. “When you landed on Earth, you didn’t have any issues with the ocean, did you?”

“No, why?”

“Because Outpost Alexa is on an ocean rig. About five kilometers from the shoreline of Eastern Island.”

“Why out at sea?”

“It’s the only occupied outpost, and we thought it best not to have a base where something the size of a Tyrannosaur could just wander in.”

Her eyes widened. “There are Tyrannosaurs?”

“No . . . not exactly. Just things that big. But I was joking, anyway, drones wouldn’t let a big predator through. But being at sea still gives a good passive protection from such threats.”

“What about sea beasts? You saw Shark Hole, Ian, those things are only stuck in the water because they haven’t yet decided to stop being affected by physics!”

He smiled, amused. “Bring your concerns up with Cenz,” he told her.

She snapped to a smart salute again. “Aye-aye, cap’n.” She grinned then. “And thank you. You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to see an alien world . . .”

“Of course I do,” he replied, his return smile warm. “I was the same way.”