Vessel

Sagittarius I Mission ^{DAY UNKNOWN ON BOARD SAGITTARIUS, LOCATION UNKNOWN}

Catherine was flying the ship. She knew that much. That part seemed all right. But why was she alone in the cockpit? Normally Ava kept her company. Had she said anything to Catherine over breakfast that morning about having something else to do?

Breakfast that morning. Catherine had no memory of it. She didn’t remember sitting down in the pilot’s chair, for that matter. “Where the hell are we?”

She called up the navigation and the charts. They were flying away from TRAPPIST-1f. Had they landed on it? Had something gone wrong? Why couldn’t she remember anything? Catherine swallowed her panic and activated the ship’s autopilot, then got up to go find the rest of the crew.

The main dayroom of the ship was empty. There was no sound of anyone talking. Or laughing. Or moving around. The ship wasn’t that big. She should be hearing someone doing something.

The laboratory was empty. The galley was empty. This is wrong. This is very, very wrong. She checked all the quarters. Cubbyholes. Closets.

“Where is everyone?” she cried.

She checked the mission logs, the comm transmissions. There was nothing prior to Mission Day 865, before they landed. For some reason, she’d abandoned TRAPPIST-1f, leaving her crew—or their bodies—behind.

She was alone, and she had no idea why.