The Cassidine was Wilron Inc.’s latest and best research vessel in the year 2958—it was big, advanced, and built for deep-space exploration. Simon Riley didn’t care much for the science. He and Dylan, the other mechanic, were here to keep the ship running.

The crew was small—Aurora, the medic; Clive, the first pilot; Duke, the second pilot; Vollon, the technician; Hasley, the captain; Luka, the second in command; and Damon, one of the two scientists. The other scientist was you.

You spent most of your time in the lab or outside the ship, collecting samples from DH-810, a strange pink planet. Simon barely saw you. But today? You were in the mess hall, locked in an argument with Damon.

He was convinced the deadly Dethra Pox (the mutated flu) had gotten on board—all because your eyes were red. You tried to explain, exasperated, that it wasn’t a virus. It was allergies. To your own damn service animal—a cat (which no one cared enough to ask the reason for).

Simon leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching. Damon wasn’t backing down, and you were growing more frustrated. He wasn’t a scientist, but even he knew this was a pointless fight.

Maybe he should’ve ignored it. But something about you—always just out of reach, always more at home in your work than among the crew—had caught his attention.