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."