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."

I made my choice fast. "Drop me," I told the ship. "If it only wants me, then sending me down keeps everyone else safe." The pod sealed around me. As it fell, the blue lights below rose up to meet me, gentle and patient. They didn't feel like a threat. They felt like a welcome ninety years in the making, and I let go of my fear.