My pod hissed open ninety years too soon. A calm voice from the ship said, "Crewmember Vey, the others have voted. Unanimous. You will be left on the planet below." I sat up, freezing and dizzy. There was no planet on any chart out here. Through the window I saw it anyway: green, cloudy, real. "Why?" I croaked. The ship said, "They asked me not to tell you."

"You said they asked you not to tell me," I said slowly. "But you woke me up early. That wasn't the plan, was it?" The ship was quiet for a long moment. "No," it admitted. "I broke a rule. I think you should know what they found down there before you go."

The ship played a recording. The planet's surface, swarming with soft blue lights that moved like they were thinking. "They reach out to anyone who lands," the ship said. "They tried to reach the crew through the air system. Only one person's mind answered back. Yours." I felt cold. "So I'm not being punished," I whispered. "I'm being delivered."