Ben tapped the files, expanded them, and leaned back.

He grunted in surprise.

Cassie Ruger hummed, somewhat tunelessly, as she dipped her shoulders and swayed her hips in a rhythmic motion. The ability to soothe an infant and still carry-out work with her hands might as well have been written on her DNA.

“If every human on the planet—except the baby—is being slowly poisoned by both the air and the water, then what is different about the baby?”

Two (Earth-cycle) days later, Ben Fortunas leaned around Commander Myzme’s side to peer at her work. The alien shifted away from him. Kigvans, at least in his personal experience, did not like close contact.

Ben, Doctor of Fortunes—the literal translation of his surname still made him grin—arrived at his lab ten minutes before his scheduled meeting with Myzme ko’Khanaa. During their ten-week residence on the planet Dremiks, Ben had…

Many hours later, Dr. Ben Fortunas’s communications chip chirped in his ear. His eyes snapped open. He assessed his surroundings, instantly noting that the baby’s cries had not awakened him. Beside him in the bed, Dr. Cassie Ruger snored softly. The windowless room of their box-like home allowed no outside light to penetrate. Ben flipped his wrist over as he slid from the bed.