Between Points of Light

After years of uninspiring findings, Harlon's position on a survey ship has lost its appeal. Vaulting to unseen star systems to investigate their potential for mining and terraforming sounds exciting in theory, but in practice it's just another corporate job. His life outside of work isn't much better.

When the crew's astrobiologist quits, Harlon arrives for his mission to find that he knows the replacement, Dexter—from a recent one-night stand. As they begin their mission thousands of light years away from any colonized star system, Harlon tries to keep things professional, but Dexter has other ideas.

♦ 34,000 words.