Colony Report: Xanadu, the first human colony in the Outer Realm.
Location: Titan, largest moon of Saturn.
Population: 100% (XX) chromosomes as of last contact.
Colony Status: Unknown…
Delphine knows something is wrong the moment she sees the email notification. The rumor mill is already at work—one of five elders on the colony’s ruling council has passed away, and according to colony law, they must elect a new member.
This will not be a fair election and Delphine knows it. The head council member, Ligeia, will move to bring her daughter into the fold, a clear conflict of interest. But what can Delphine, a nineteen-year-old member of the colony’s third generation do when up against the first-generation elites? Ligeia is not to be questioned and addressing the colony without permission could earn Delphine lost rations or hard labor in the mine.
Her doubts grow when she and her best friends, the twins, Rhayn and Rho, find a partially-buried space probe sent from Earth while exploring outside the colony. The probe is intact and clearly not ancient—it was sent recently—which goes against everything they’ve been told about Earth.
Ligeia and her fellow council members are the only colonists allowed to contact Earth. They’ve reported that the last three decades have seen Earth spiral into a devastating world war, preventing humans from returning to Titan, and leaving the colonists alone and dependent on their ruling council for guidance.
After the three friends poke around in the probe’s equipment, a holograph pops up with a message—a message that contradicts everything Delphine thinks she knows about her colony—and its leadership.
Thank you for your support!