Voss Station creaked under the Antarctic wind.
Six months of darkness had begun.
Inside, flickering generator lights cast long shadows across frost-covered corridors. Aria shivered as she calibrated the med-wing console, breath clouding in the frigid air.
Dominic sat on the gurney nearby, shirt half-unbuttoned, IV line snaking from his wrist. His color was off—paler than usual, tremors beginning again.
“We need to stabilize you before Xi-Ω testing," she said.
He forced a smirk. “You say that like we didn't just crash-land on a continent made of death."
She looked up. “Would you rather be back at Helix?"
His smirk faded.
Mara entered, wiping frost from her gloves. “Greenhouse is online. Hydroponic grow lights are holding."
“Anything edible?" Aria asked.
“Algae and regrets," Mara r
