Chapter 1 - Taylor

A.D. 3485

Missing out on the next semester of university was the least of my problems.

Getting stuck on an alien planet was infinitely worse.

It could have happened to anyone, really.

Except they don't generally invite university students along to survey new planets.

There are probably good reasons for that, but, well - the captain of the ship was my absentee mother, and an exception was made.

I was supposed to have two whole months to get to know her better while I sharpened my Xenobiology skills in a verdant paradise. With any luck, I would graduate early.

Then I messed up, big-time.

Now I'm lost, alone and struggling to survive, stranded ten thousand light-years from home.