Deep craters studded the rocky moon outside the window. Kendra turned her gaze down to the scuff marks on her boots as the floor beneath them rattled.

“I wouldn’t have minded a bit more grant money for this flight,” Bria said from the next seat over. The woman rubbed her temples as the walls vibrated.

Kendra nodded in affirmation, still staring at her own feet. The warm light from the window opposite them illuminated tiny metal ridges on the floor. She glanced out the window as one of the men across from them strained at his seatbelt to look out. The ship was turning, the moon fading from view.

The light fell across Kendra’s face, and the planet loomed vast in front of them. Gray mountains and plateaus punctuated swathes of white desert sand. Next to her, Bria leaned back against her headrest, closing her eyes. The glow from the window sent beams of light over her auburn hair as they descended.

The shuttle creaked.

A jolt sent Kendra lurching forward, held back by her seatbelt. She made eye contact with Antony across from her, who scowled as he almost spilled out of his own seat. He was a familiar face. But even after the days they’d spent on the cramped shuttle, it surprised her to see the lines on his face and gray in his hair.

The four of them occupied the handful of seats facing each other along the walls of the narrow shuttle. Seph, the man at the window, frowned. He was the least familiar, though she’d grown to expect his name to pop up in her inbox every few days during the months leading up to the trip.

“I don’t understand why they wouldn’t allot a little more money for transportation. The funding was fairly robust for other areas,” Seph said.

Antony crossed his arms. “It’s an insurance thing. Remote expeditions are a liability, even if it’s just surveying some ruins. It’s expensive, so they cut costs in other places. Space travel is considered less of a liability, so we’re stuck with the cheapest shuttle that can carry us,” he said. He patted the wall behind him. “The heat shielding on these things? Doesn’t inspire confidence.”

Kendra frowned at her colleague as waves of nausea passed over her. “Seriously, Antony?”

He shrugged.

“In any case,” Bria said, “we’re going to be fine. I was making more of a commentary on comfort than safety.”

There was another thunk from below them. “Though I hope that isn’t my microscope rolling around in the cargo hold.”

“That’s the one you got from your big grant a few years ago, isn’t it?” Seph asked.

“It is.”

“How many of these shuttles do you think you could have bought for the price of that scope?” Antony asked.

Bria snorted. “I’d never buy a transport shuttle like this. But probably four or five.” She made eye contact with Kendra for a moment before turning back to the two men across from them. “Everything is going to be alright. We’ll be on the ground soon.”

“Yeah, I mean, if we were going to have a problem entering the atmosphere, it would have already happened,” Antony said.

“Antony,” Kendra said.

“I’m just saying.”

“Yeah, I don’t wanna hear about it right now.”

At that, he simply nodded and closed his eyes.

She did the same, trying to breathe deeply until her stomach stopped turning over. After a few minutes, she peered back out the window.

They flew over a vast plateau as they descended. The cliffs were formidable, reaching high into the sky, with occasional irregular sharp peaks rising off the plateau. They stretched out for miles, giving way to dunes and then flat sand. The shuttle shook as the ground approached, slowly nearing a point in the distance where a small white structure stood.

Kendra counted her breaths, trying to recall each of the specific aims in Bria’s grant until her nausea faded for good. She watched the light shift, glinting off the windows of the research station below. Anticipation bubbled up in her chest.

The shuttle landed, touching down with a dull thump. Its ramp descended. As light flooded the cabin of the shuttle, Kendra jumped up, heading down onto the ground. She walked back and forth over the sand, feeling the crunch under her boots.

The research station was a white, blocky structure about the size of a house, with dark windows and small gray seams where its paneling fit together. Antony kicked at the grit and rocks lying in drifts against the outer walls.

“Ready to see if this thing kept the sand out?” Antony tapped on the keypad on the door. “That pilot is going to wait, right? Because this might be a short expedition.”

The door unlocked with a soft thunk.

“I’m not sold on these prefab research stations either, but I’m willing to remain optimistic for a moment,” Bria said as she approached, adjusting her ponytail.

Antony yanked the door open and held it for her.

“It’s been, what, twenty years since this station was built?” Kendra asked as she followed the other two.

“Yeah, something like that,” Bria said, surveying the room.

Dim light came in through windows high on the walls. A fine layer of dust coated the floor and equipment, but it was free of sand. Most of the equipment had been draped with plastic covers.

“There are some real antiques in here,” Seph said as he lifted one of the plastic covers. “Some of this equipment looks like stuff I used in undergrad.”

“I’d say our funders’ company stocked these prototype research stations with anything they had lying around. Less to make the station useful and more to support the claim that their equipment stays operational for decades,” Bria said.

“Most of the other prototypes got upgraded to working research stations already, right?” Seph asked. He stood next to Bria, towering over her.

“Yeah. This place was not a priority, from the looks of it. Too remote. Uninhabited. Basically a big, sandy rock,” Bria said.

“Not a place you’d expect a stone temple to show up out of the nowhere,” Seph said.

Kendra lifted the cover and ran a hand along the plastic shell of the centrifuge. Antony stood nearby, his gaze unfocused.

“We had this kind of centrifuge at the last station I worked at,” she commented. “That thing was a tank. Some seismic activity pitched it off the counter and it still worked.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, though I left it on the floor afterwards. It was just me on that assignment, and I couldn’t lift the thing,” she said.

“I didn’t know you were alone on your last expedition,” he said, blinking hard.

“You were, too, right?”

“Yeah.” He picked absently at the plastic cover, not meeting her eyes.

There was a noise from the roof.

Antony jumped. Kendra’s gaze shot up to the ceiling as dust fell down and the roof creaked again.

“Bria and Seph must be getting the main solar panels ready,” she said as her comms beeped.

“Hey,” came Seph’s voice from the receiver on her arm. “Do you want to try the lights?”

“They’re working,” Kendra said, as the lights flickered on. There were garbled exclamations through the comms and the connection shut off.

The door opened again as Seph bustled back into the room, his short blond hair mussed. “Solar panels look good. It was like Bria thought: they had covered the main panels to decrease wear. They’re in good shape, and the auxiliary ones were left uncovered to charge the backup generators.”

He paused for a breath and looked at Antony. “Bria is getting the bikes unloaded. Do you want to help get the crate with the microscope unloaded?”

“Uh yeah, sure.”

“So, I was thinking, we haven’t sorted out who’s going to lead the writeup on the diagnostics for the research station itself and all the equipment. I know it’s not the most exciting part of this expedition, but we do need to do it, per the funding requirements,” Seph said. His tall, slim form swayed slightly as he talked, reminding Kendra of a pine tree in the wind.

Antony shot her a look. His jaw was set, mouth resolutely clamped shut.

“I thought Bria said we’d wait on that until we can get out to the ruins. Figure out how to divide the work once we get going,” Kendra said.

“Yeah, but I know Bria, and she always takes on too much for herself. She’s already done a lot of the legwork in getting this funding,” Seph said. “It’s just the four of us here, and I don’t want her saddled with all the report writing.”

Antony grunted. “Okay, that’s not going to happen.”

“There will be plenty of time to figure it out later,” Kendra said.

“Right, okay,” Seph said. “I’ll be outside. Join me when you can.”

Antony let out a disgusted sigh after Seph left. “He has no right to get pedantic about all this. That guy ordered the wrong objective for the confocal, and then I wasted half a day trying to cancel the order and get the right one,” he said, crossing his arms. “Do you have any idea how hard that is to do quickly when the microscope company is in a different star system? I mean, I bet you do, but you know what I mean.”

She sighed, dusting off her hands as though that would take the stress of unpacking away.

“I do know. I also know we just touched down on a planet none of us have ever visited before. I’d rather think about that,” she said.

“Yeah, in the middle of nowhere, working in close quarters with a guy who’s been driving me up the wall,” Antony said.

“And?”

“And what?”

She shrugged and grinned at him.

“And you get to work with me. I mean, surely that should cancel things out and then some.”

Antony smiled at her. “Alright, alright, fair enough.”

“Yeah, I missed working with you too,” she said.

The horizon glowed pink and purple by the time they finished unloading the ship. Satisfied that their own equipment had arrived more or less intact, they had dispersed, Seph following Bria as she hurried off to the computer room near the main lab.

Kendra leaned against the counter in the small, enclosed kitchen, sipping out of a mug. Antony entered the kitchen, making a beeline for the cabinets.

“What are you drinking?” he asked after a moment.

“This is something I brought with me—it’s something my parents would make. Or, it’s the store-bought version of it.” She held out the mug to him.

He grabbed it, taking a sip. “Oh, that’s good. Really mellow.”

“It’s got fruit and a sweet cheese, both from my home world. Can’t find them anywhere else,” she said. “If you’re looking for food, nothing has been unpacked yet. Research station isn’t half bad though. There are even real couches.”

“Yeah, though I’m not too optimistic about the sleeping arrangements. I hate twin beds. Why do these research stations only come with twin beds,” Antony said flatly.

She raised her eyebrows at him. “I thought it would bug you more that two of the four of us will have to share a room.”

He stared back at her with a grimace on his face. “You’re joking. Please tell me that’s a joke.”

“Nope.”

“Oh my god, I only checked the one room. Didn’t feel like looking for sheets so I came here to snack.”

Kendra drained the rest of her drink.

“Seph and Bria are downloading the most recent satellite footage of this planet to the desktop computers right now, and I’m willing to bet they haven’t realized we’re short a room,” she said.

“I can already hear him, like, ‘Bria’s done the legwork in securing this funding, so she shouldn’t have to share.’ And then I’m going to get stuck rooming with him,” he said, appalled.

He tore into a cardboard box, pulling out a package of drink cartons. “Also, I’m not staying up all night setting stuff up. Plenty of time for that later.”

“Maybe they’re just excited to get started,” she said.

“Yeah, well, with Seph, I’m not sure if it’s enthusiasm or a pathological need to be busy. Wasn’t that guy like, one of those hot, rock star professors? A while back?”

“When you say hot, do you mean him or his research?”

“Oh come on, you know what I meant.”

“So, both?”

Antony looked around the room. “Fine, both. Still don’t want to room with him.”

“Have you even worked with him before?” Kendra asked.

“No, but I’ve run into him at conferences over the years. Though, the last time I saw him, he didn’t have his own lab. I did not think he was this neurotic.”

He finished his drink and tossed it into the trash can across the room. “He drove me up the wall when we were planning this expedition,” he said. “I mean, I’ve got hundreds of messages from that dude clogging my inbox.”

“I could have dealt with less hair-splitting, but we’re here now. Anyway, I can room with you,” she said.

He paused.

“Are you sure? I mean, it’s just that…” he trailed off.

“We’re good. I don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind either,” he said.

He scratched absently at the scruff of his beard. “Sorry for being obnoxious during landing. I know I wasn’t exactly helping.”

“It’s alright. I was doing okay, even after a week on that tiny shuttle. It’s the atmosphere entry that gets me,” she said.

“I hate watching the ship leave. The one that dropped us off, I mean,” he said. “It didn’t escape my notice that this planet has no other research stations, no cities, no medical stations.” He shook his head. “You spend all day worrying about the equipment, and checking everything over, making sure the station’s life support won’t fail in a week, and then our only way off here is on its way back up into the sky.”

“It reminds me of getting dropped off at college,” Kendra said.

Antony snorted. “What?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, college was decades ago,” she said. “But I went to school off my home planet. It was one of the first times I had even been off-world, so really, it was a terrible idea. I called my parents every day for the first two weeks, crying.”

“Yeah? So what happened? I mean, what did your parents say?” he asked.

“Well, they told me to make some friends, which I sort of did. There was one class I was looking forward to. It was highly supervised, but they let us explore some ruins. Got to pick at broken pottery and do some biochemistry. Poke around for leftover organic molecules. I was hooked,” she said.

“That’s nice, to have an experience like that to fall back on,” Antony said. “Remind you what it feels like when things are good.”

“That enthusiasm kept me going at least through that first semester,” Kendra said.

“Yeah, I can imagine,” he said. “How do you feel about checking out our sleeping arrangements, then?”

“Let’s do it.”

She picked up her luggage from where she’d stashed it in the living area and headed to the room. The room was small, accommodating a pair of twin beds and nondescript dressers. Kendra reached into the pocket of her bag and pulled out a framed photo of her parents, setting it on the dresser.

Antony opened the closet and tossed a pile of plastic wrapped sheets onto the beds.

“This room’s a sardine can. You still okay sharing?”

“Of course. I mean, look at that view,” she said, pointing at the small window.

“Sand and more sand?”

“Sure. But it’s sand I’ve never stepped on before. And a view of moons and stars I’ve never seen before,” Kendra said. “I’d do anything to keep seeing things like this. Coming to new places. Learning things no one else in the world knows.”

He stood next to her at the window and smiled.

“You know what? You’re right. It is a nice view.”