Red dirt crunched under Liorah’s boots as she stepped onto the rocky soil of the barren planet. She drew a deep breath and coughed as her lungs filled with the carbon rich air, it was the first time she’d breathed the air of another world.

She squinted into the distance as the pull came again - it’s to the east, just beyond the horizon “Alright,” she muttered, “I guess we can’t get home until we’ve earned our keep.” She started walking into the deserted landscape.

The carbon stung. Her fungal scrubbers converted it to breathable air, slowly easing the burn in her chest. – this air tastes sour “I know, they said it would, just like it’s burning too, but we’re alright.” She knew she’d be alone, no point wasting manpower when they could drop her off, no prep, just like walking out the backdoor of a house.

It wasn’t that she didn’t understand the mission’s importance, she just didn’t like being alone. She was always alone. Even around others, they treated her differently, sat apart in the mess hall from her, spoke in hushed tones when she passed. Like she was alien to them.

It’s a long way. She’s got 18 kilometers to go. Dust was kicking up as she hiked, and as she breathed it in she got a flash of an ancient memory of the land in front of her covered in lush trees and streams. A far cry from the vacant desolation before her. She asked, “Do you remember this or is it like reading an ancient tablet?” her passenger yearned inside her longing of a distant past, but hopeful for a future she might help shape. “Alright then,” she smirked, “So you remember it, that means it’s part of you...part of us.”

The long sloping plane wasn’t boring at all, she’d hop and skip from rock to rock. Making a game where she tallied how many times she lost her balance. If you saw this on Earth it would be just a normal young adult hiking in the wilderness. But Liorah wasn’t on Earth.

She crested the hill and squinted down into the valley below – there, in that cave 3 kilometers down.

The sun seared her retinas, but her passenger kept them replenished and safe from the radioactive waves of light. She thought to herself “What if I disappear out here? Just drop the tracker and forage to live on my own.”

Liorah drank from her canteen, the recycled water from space flight always had an aluminum taste to it. It was clean, but at what cost she thought?

She laughed as she lightly jogged down the hill in the direction of the cave. This was turning into a nice day after all.

The mouth of the cave stretched open like the crust of the world was frozen mid yawn, like the planet had only just begun to stir. Charming, she thought, you don’t really feel alive until you’ve gone spelunking before 10am. As she stepped into the cool dry cave she felt her skin buzzing as her bio-luminescence started up in the dark. She cast a soft blue glow on the walls around her.

She dropped her rucksack to the floor and kneeled to grab her rope and anchors. It shouldn’t be too deep, but she wasn’t going to risk getting stuck and calling for help she didn’t want. She tied off and anchored to a stone then begun to rappel into the darkness. 20, 30, 40, 50 feet she guessed as she reached the floor.

She heard the trickling of water and knew she was on the right track. She held up her hand to cast her glow further as she carefully stepped across the stream and watched it vanish into the heart of the rock.

The planet seemed to groan in the cave, like scaffolding being pushed by the wind. That doesn’t fill me with comfort, she thought while she clambered down a ledge next to a waterfall – just a bit further. She ducked underneath a low entrance to a cavern with countless streams pouring into a natural cistern.

“It’s beautiful!” she whispered

– home

“Well, here’s the water source for the colony.” she said aloud through a smile.

Her passenger spiked through her skin. “What?” – not safe. Must protect host. The far wall of the cistern shifted as the ground beneath her feet rumbled. “Oh shit! I’ve got to get out of here now, like right now! Hurry, hurry, hurry..”

Liorah sprinted back to the ledge she had just come down as a falling rock slashed her arm open “Ah, come on! I’m not dying in here. Not today. Not like this!” the cave shook with all its might as she was climbing up the rope “Just hold, please, please, please, come on, come on, come on”

The rope slips a little and she feels it in the pit of her stomach “Please don’t break rope. I promise if you don’t break I’ll kiss you.”

She pulls upward 20, 30, 40, 50 feet with dust filling her lungs she keeps getting flashes of what the cave looked like eons ago with natural plants and animals. “Not now! Don’t focus on the memory, focus on keeping us alive so we still have a memory!” – administer antibiotic and coagulant to arm wound, support cellular structure and immediately stabilize broken bone.

“Whoo! That’s what I’m talking about, now hold on!”

Liorah digs into the side of the melting rock with her feet and hands. Grasping at every notch and crevice as she wildly tries to reach the top. She feels a tear start rolling down her face – leaking moisture, musn’t do that, could need it later

Her legs are hefted over the top of the cliff and she makes a bee line for the cave entrance. She reaches the opening and collapses in a laugh. Adrenaline spiking, wound and bone already mending, she hears a crackle on her radio

“Was it there?”

“Yeah it’s there, this is a good spot, set her down, and come get me. I need a shower and some rest.”