Chapter 1.5: Happy Hunting

Polaris's heart sinks. A tense silence smothers the room before the Commander speaks again.

"Really, Polaris. I expected that you would be happier to see me."

"I'm just embarrassed--if I knew you were coming, I would have put on a pot of tea for you," Polaris tries to hide behind false bravado, "now I look like a bad hostess."

"I must agree--you are hardly entertaining tonight," the Commander says, "though you did give Crux and I quite the show last night." His statement takes a moment to sink in.

"You saw..." Polaris mumbles, feeling sick.

"Yes," his reply is casual, "poor Crux was overcome by what I can only assume is repulsion, though I must say that I was impressed by your vigor."

"Enough!" Polaris snaps.

Chapter 1.4: Take a Chance

Weeks pass without incident. The summer days shorten, and the dry heat is replaced by icy dampness. Polaris has fallen into a comfortable routine: she finds gems, sells half to the local consignment store, and submits the other half to the Hegemony. Polaris continues filing her reports with Crux; her rewards are mechanical conversations with her purple overseer. There is no mention of Luke, or Eni, or the new gem cutting machine. Crux seems blissfully unaware of Polaris's adventures

Chapter 1.3: Que Sera Sera

Eni has given Polaris a lot to think about. She lies awake all night, mulling over the choices, stuck between certain personal disaster (Eni's plan) or certain planetary doom (the Commander's plan). Ultimately, she decides to take baby steps and visit the laundromat in the morning. Que sera sera, she muses, remembering a song from an old movie she watched once, whatever will be will be. Maybe the universe will give me a sign and tell me what to do.

Chapter 1.2: Cold War

A few days pass uneventfully while Polaris continues her ritual of collecting and sending samples back home. She doesn't take a break until a particularly humid and rainy morning--she decides that collecting would be hazardous in such weather. The humidity renders her home's evaporative cooling useless, causing her to shed her clothes in favor of lounging in her unmentionables and reading gothic novels. It's important to continue my studies on humans, she rationalizes.

Chapter 1.1: A Colony of One

Her eyes flutter open. The sky expands infinitely above and trees curve towards the center of her vision, obscuring the sun. It's Alcyone, her home. Rather, it's a dream of her home. She can tell because she dreams in black and white. She wishes she would dream in color--she misses the vibrant foliage of the Alcyonian forests.