A stand-alone science fiction novella from the award-winning, bestselling, critically-acclaimed author of theWayfarerseries.At the turn of the twenty-second century, scientists make a breakthrough in human spaceflight. Through a revolutionary method known assomaforming, astronauts can survive in hostile environments offEarthusing synthetic biological supplementations. They can produce antifreeze in subzero temperatures, absorb radiation & convert it for food, & conveniently adjust to the pull of different gravitational forces. With the fragility of the body no longer a limiting factor, human beings are at last able to journey to neighboring exoplanets long known to harbor life.A team of these explorers,Ariadne O’Neill& her three crewmates, are hard at work in a planetary system fifteen light-years fromSol, on a mission to ecologically survey four habitable worlds. But asAriadneshifts through both form & time, the culture back onEarthhas also been transformed. Faced with the possibility of returning to a planet that has forgotten those who have left,Ariadnebegins to chronicle the story of the wonders & dangers of her mission, in the hope that someone back home might still be listening.