"I'm Gerald Jackson. Glad to have you with us." His intonation was unmistakably Californian. His brief smile vanished as soon as it had appeared, a serious expression replacing it. His sharp, Latin features contrasted oddly with his pale skin and gray eyes. He leaned against a cargo crate in the cavernous bay.

  "This is Lieutenant Nicholas Rutland. My second-in-command and co-pilot." He tilted his head at the man next to him.

  "Hey. You can call me Nick," the man said, nodding his head with a grin, his blue eyes twinkling .

  "That's Vijay Kumar, our science officer." Cassie looked at where Jackson was pointing, having missed Kumar entirely when she'd entered the cargo bay.

  A dark-skinned man, who seemed to be of Indian origin, waved at her, his smile warm. "Call me VJ. Pleased to meet ya," he said, taking Cassie offguard with his Mid-West American accent.

  "You've already met our security officer, Tesha Dixon." He tilted his head at Tesh. Cassie looked at Tesh whose smiled broadened as she met her eyes.

  "Here’s our situation," Jackson began, his tone shifting to one of quiet urgency. He paused, pursing his lips tightly, looking down at the floor as if gathering his thoughts. When he spoke again, his words were measured, deliberate.

  "Our intended destination was the Proxima colony; I'm sure you're aware of that. About forty-eight hours ago, the Clarke came out of warp and jumped into the gravity well of an unknown planet. This ship wasn't designed for surface landings. Through a combination of sheer luck, skill, and courage-" his gaze seemed to involuntarily dart at Rutland for a brief second, then flicking toward VJ, "-we managed to survive the crashlanding."

  He lowered his head once more in silent contemplation, his posture rigid, as if reflecting on the decisions he had had to make.

  "ALISA—the ship’s AI—is down, and VJ’s working on bringing her back online." He tilted his head toward VJ, accompanying the gesture with an arched eyebrow. "If we get ALISA back online, maybe we find out where we are. Maybe call home. But we’re a long way from either." Another pause, letting the implications sink in.

  Cassie frowned, processing the information. "Could we still be in the Proxima system?" Her voice was soft, uncertain.

  The question caught Jackson offguard. He shot a glance at Tesh. The three men exchanged brief looks. Rutland raised an eyebrow.

  Jackson cleared his throat, regaining composure. "It’s... unlikely," he admitted, his authoritative tone wavering momentarily. Shifting his weight, he continued, "This planet is tidally locked, with its own ecosystem—flora, fauna, everything."

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  Cassie's heart raced. The botanist within her was stunned. Alien flora. The words sent a thrill through her, quickly followed by apprehension. How would Earth-based biology interact with something so foreign?

  Jackson scanned the crew before returning his focus to Cassie. "During entry, we had to jettison a significant amount of cargo to stabilize the ship. Our auxiliary power supply is operational—for now—but we lost critical supplies in the process. We plan to salvage what we can, but..." He hesitated, choosing his next words carefully. "Our food and water inventory is alarmingly limited."

  Cassie's brow furrowed. She glanced around the room, noting the concern etched on Tesh’s face. Before Jackson could elaborate, she asked bluntly, "How limited?"

  Jackson straightened, pushing off the crate. He clasped his hands behind his back and walked slowly, and finally leaned on a crate with one hand, the other at his hip. He faced her, briefly pursing his lips. "Sixty days, maybe eighty if we start rationing immediately."

  Two months, Cassie thought. That doesn’t sound so bad.

  Jackson seemed to read her thoughts. "We’re planning for all contingencies," he said firmly, tapping his fingers on the crate. "Which brings us to you. You’re a botanist." His gaze bore into hers, searching for understanding.

  Cassie felt the weight of their expectations pressing down on her. She raised a hand to rub her eyes, then lowered it, steeling herself.

  "You want me to find food." The words felt heavier than they should. She turned, her gaze sweeping across the room. Finally, she met Jackson’s eyes. He didn’t blink.

  The captain exhaled sharply, glancing briefly at Tesh. They were a transport ship crew, not explorers. Leading such a crew for the mundane missions they'd been trained for was one thing; leading them into the unknown, with dwindling resources and no clear path home—that was another challenge entirely.

  Cassie stared at him, unblinking. Unspoken questions lingered in her gaze: Are we doomed? What if I fail? But the question she actually asked was, "There were three other members of my team. One of them was a senior botanist. We could speed this up if they were assigned to this task as well." Cassie felt the temperature in the room shift. Everyone stopped moving. She quickly glanced at Tesh, who was looking at Jackson with an expression which could have been sympathy, but she wasn't sure.

  Jackson lowered his head for a long moment. When he finally looked at Cassie his voice was soft, devoid of his authorative tone. "We had to take certain... measures during the landing."

  Cassie's green eyes grew wider, understanding dawning. Before she could say anything, Tesh spoke softly, "Some of the cargo modules we jettisoned had cryopods."

  "All the cargo modules had mandatory precautionary measures built into them. The pods might’ve held up, they’ve got a week’s worth of power, so do most of the refrigerated cargo modules. Recovering all the modules is a top priority." Jackson said all of this in a rapid, matter-of-fact tone, but Cassie managed to detect a hint of regret in his voice.

  What happens after the cargo modules' auxilary power runs out? The question almost came to her lips, but something within her told her she shouldn't enquire any further about this particular issue. She just nodded and looked at the cargo bay floor. After a moment, she said softly, "Understood, tell me where to start."

  Jackson was impressed by the fact that she hadn't freaked out. He held her gaze for a long moment. He took a deep breath, but instead of speaking, he just pursed his lips and nodded slowly.