A.D. 3485 When it comes to First Contact, there are no second chances.

Taylor went along for the ride to help her mother survey a new planet, and the offer of a few extra course credits for doing field work certainly didn't hurt.

A planet on the edge of disputed territory, sure, but the war with the Xathen had ended thirty years ago, and the Commonwealth had won. It didn't matter that the first survey ship failed to return, things like that happened during wartime.

But this was just term break, with two whole months to work alongside her mother and get to know her better while she sharpened her Xenobiology skills in a verdant paradise.

With any luck, she would graduate early.

But Taylor messed up, and people died.

Now she was lost, alone and struggling to survive, stranded ten thousand light-years from home.