This time we slept for ten years. This was it, the moment when step one of our mission was complete. I opened my eyes and pulled the mask and cuff off for the final time and watched the top of the pod lift out of my way. An ocean of pride and relief almost immediately washed away the usual discomfort I initially felt. This was the first time that I felt so alert and ready as I woke.

                I rolled out of bed too quickly, nearly landing on my hands and knees, only barely catching myself with the edge of my bed and wall. For the first time, I didn't change out of my turquoise uniform. I would have to get used to wearing it, at least while leaving the ship. I steadied myself and stood up, then took a step towards the door and pulled open the curtain. Lunëne was already standing in my doorway, closed fist up to the doorframe about to knock. Their face softened and a smile broke out.

                "Just checking. It feels lighter, doesn't it?" They pondered. I tilted my head and scrunched my eyebrows inquisitively, before taking a small hop and realizing they were right. The gravity was just a bit lighter. I can't believe I had forgotten that it would feel lighter, it had been so briefly included in our training.

                "Wow, that's going to be something to get used to," I replied. The chime of a director’s announcement cut me off before I could continue.

                "We have safely landed on the planet! Congratulations to everyone on an amazing journey, you should all be very proud of yourselves." The familiar voice announced jovially. Scattered cheers and claps could be heard throughout the halls, "We should take a moment to think of the ones who have given us this opportunity and honor those who made sacrifices in the name of progress... While reflecting and preparing, we have much work to do and I know many of you are excited to take the first steps on this new planet. If you make your way to the cafeteria, we will begin the orientation for leaving the ship. Please arrive within the next hour. Again, congratulations to all!"

                "Nice speech. You ready?" I asked, as I turned to Lunëne.

                "So ready." They looked at me, and I could swear I saw their eyes glimmer. We joined the flowing group of passengers leaving rooms and walking towards the cafeteria.

                We entered into a chaotic scene, the swirling movement of a developing crowd matched by a gentle roar of a few dozen conversations. A mix of verbal direction and visual cues led us to the center of the cafeteria and towards the back of the room. Milton was standing in the center, guiding others from our floor to make their way towards him, all while occasionally checking his notes and making a few marks.

                After several restless minutes, the group of middle-floor residents had grown and converged into a single distinct mass, sandwiched between the top-floor and bottom-floor groups.

                "Everyone's here, so let's get started. First of all, this is really exciting. I'm so happy we're here and just like you, I can't wait to get off this ship and start exploring." Milton paused and took a deep breath, "However, we have some reminders to go over. If anyone needs help with putting on the SSCE suites, let me know. I will be checking everyone before getting off the ship to ensure they are safely secured. As you may have noticed, each of the floors are in three separate groups. Our initial goal involves three tasks; exploring the surface of the planet for the best long-term settlement location, testing the environment for insights into potential risks and opportunities such as farming, and lastly is sorting and managing inventory of our necessities such as food and building materials. Our Level has the first one task, exploration. Any questions so far?"

                Milton's gaze swept the group intently for a moment before he continued, "We will be assisted by the drone bots of course. I’ll split everyone into three teams of fourteen, with each group heading in different directions. I will remain here to relay information, direct every team, and basically serve as a communication hub. The primary goal is to gather information, so take plenty of notes— any information is helpful no matter how small— and avoid potentially dangerous situations. Remember, we want to find a long-term living environment, so flat terrain devoid of craters, caverns, and cracks in the ground would be ideal. Anyways, enough talking! Time to suit up."

                We followed Milton towards the back wall, as the other two large groups continued on with their instructions. At the back of the cafe were both stairs and a large elevator that we found ourselves gathered around. Milton pressed the elevator button and the doors opened.

                "Everyone who can fit, get in." Milton called out as he entered and moved to the left side of the elevator. Our floor ended up taking three trips, with the bottom-floor group shuffling up behind us as the elevator came back up for the last of the middle-floor stragglers.

                I smiled pensively to Milton as I walked into the elevator, Lunëne following closely behind. I moved to the back and leaned against the back wall and they shuffled next to me and gently shifted into me. The doors closed and I felt the pull of gravity suddenly soften as we descended rapidly, until the elevator stopped and my feet felt firmly planted again.

                The doors opened, and between the heads of other passengers in front of me, I could distinguish rows of lockers. I mindlessly followed the others out into a dimly lit room where a scattering of other people were pulling SSCE suits out of lockers and donning the equipment. Others were wondering up and down the rows methodically.

                "There will be a locker with your name on it, you can go ahead and find it and then suit up. Meet me at the door by the far end when you're ready." Milton instructed before turning and departing towards his safety checkpoint at the exit.

                "God, this is crazy. I guess I'll see you out there!" Lunëne exclaimed. They darted towards me and kissed my check, then walked past me towards a nearby row. I turned my head to watch them for a moment as my spirits soared and my bashful grin took over.

                Despite my best efforts, it seemed as though I was the last one to find my locker, pull the bulky space suit over my jumpsuit, slide and lock my helmet in place, activate the system, and walk over to Milton for a final check. He gave me the signal to proceed, I walked into the waiting airlock, checked to be certain I was clear, and activated the switch.

                The doors behind me closed with a buzz and a series of clicks. And then the doors in front of me dramatically parted with a near silent hiss, revealing the new planet.

                The ground was a dark reddish-gray, uneven and untamed. Large rocks made up the roughest parts of the terrain, many jutting up into the air in a hostile manner. The shadows were dark and harsh, contrasted sharply by the rest of the brightly lit ground.

                The source of brilliant light was easily visible from where I stood, a massive sun casting a subtly violet hue over the entire landscape. I saw what looked to be some sort of flora, only a few examples dotting the distant surface. Those deeply maroon and green plants were one reason for coming here, an example of life surviving and an indication farming was possible.

                On the ground a short distance from the ship was a basecamp already forming, aided heavily by bots forming temporary tent-like structures.

                I took hesitant, measured steps out of the ship. My heart was racing and I instinctively drew a heavy breath to test the air, despite all my oxygen being provided by my suit. We knew there was some level of breathable air, but it was too low of a concentration to survive on for long.

                The set of stairs in front of me was relatively short, but it took me over a minute to descend as I glanced every which way in wonder while trying to keep my balance in the lower gravity.

                I reached the bottom of the stairs and wandered through a maze of massive crates and automated bots that were slowly increasing the density of the controlled chaos. The layout was orderly but the people in front of me were spreading out, jumping around in jubilee and dashing around like children. Even as bashful as I am, I let the atmosphere of excitement pull me in and I sheepishly hopped around like a fool.

                The enthusiastic energy only continued to build as the other two team appeared one by one and joined in on the fun. The bots continued tirelessly in the background, now moving on to building temporary sleeping shelters for us. There were only a few tasks we had before the end of the day, like testing the communication between helmets, checking the oxygen levels in the shelters, and moving bedding into the structures if we planned on sleeping outside. There was not a single person that opted to sleep on the ship that night.

                We were free to leisure, but invited to start on other basic tasks that day if the motivation arose. By the afternoon, there were several groups working together, directing bots or moving luggage by hand, mapping out the landscape, standing in tight huddles discussing the initial results of basic soil analysis. I wandered around, taking it all in. This was better than I had imagined, standing in the midst of a new civilization being slowly built up around us.

                I continued walking until I reached the entrance our new tent-like enclosure There were airlock doors at the front wall, the most rigid wall. The rest was a reliable but made of a translucent, soft flexible material. The beds inside were minimal, and there was a distant whine of the atmosphere-to-oxygen machine running, currently drowned out by gossip and enthusiastic chatter.

                I cast my bedding out from my arms onto my new mattress, conspicuously chosen to be neighboring Lunëne's bed. I could picture Valentin's expression if he had seen us choose our beds together, and the whole group's expression if they saw me as I sit next to Lunëne on their bed and join their conversation with their other bed neighbor.

                Falling asleep wasn't as comfortable as it was on the ship, since we still had to sleep in our suits due to safety protocols. We were able to take our helmets off though. I looked forward to when we’d have a permanently established habitat, and be able to walk around our homes in casual clothes without fear of an oxygen leak.

                Needless to say, I didn't fall asleep for hours after the sun began to set. I laid on my side, watching the colors shift through a gorgeous gradient and the room began to darken as the night overtook our tent.

###

                I didn't intend to fall asleep or remember doing so, but suddenly it was bright. There were sounds of people moving around outside and hushed conversations inside. I blinked away the haze of sleep and looked around. There were empty beds and people in various stages of getting ready to leave. With the sound of the airlock opening and closing every few minutes, it was a wonder that I hadn't awoken earlier to the hiss filling the room.

                I got ready quickly myself— after all, I really only had to put on my helmet— and joined the stream of hungry passengers towards breakfast. The bots had set up a temporary dining hall overnight, large enough to accommodate us all.

                We entered the airlock in groups of five and were met with a rambunctious din of what looked to be almost all the passengers at tables eating. We also were greeted by an incredible smell of a well-made breakfast feast laid out on a line of tables, a mixture of aromas that were cozy and inviting.

                For the first time in a long time, I had an overflowing plate on my way through the tables in search of my friends. Thanks to some enthusiastic waving by Garland, it didn't take long and everyone except Elissa and Valentine were there waiting. Lunëne had, of course, saved me a seat.

                "...almost a year. I'm sure they'll send you guys looking for them too. I know they already have drones out searching. Hi Soelli!" Garland was leaning in towards Lunëne with a scrunched expression on her face and speaking just above a hushed tone, before popping back in her seat with a cheerful smile after spotting me.

                "Looking for who?" I asked hesitantly.

                "It's rumors about the other ship. The one that launched after us and landed here first. Garland heard that no one has been able to make contact yet.” Silas explained while glancing between me and Lunëne.

                "And we're on the exploration team, so..." Lunëne added.

                "Right, so we're going to be search and rescue. That's... exciting." I replied while my gaze lingered on Lunëne

                "It's just a rumor. But also, it wouldn't be much of a rescue. They landed over eight months ago, so if they had some kind of issue... who knows." Garland trailed off and sat motionless, pondering for a moment. We followed her lead, likely all imagining the same grim scenario.

                "Well, we landed without misfunction, and our ship was the earlier version. They have more advanced tech anyways. And the first ship, that launched before us, landed here without issues before venturing on to other planets. I’d think the engineers have the landing part perfected by now." Silas chimed in. Despite the encouraging thought, an uncomfortable silence at the table lingered.