Page 2 of Alien on the Moon

Elena was startled out of her thoughts when a knock sounded at the door. It was quickly followed by a tall Thryal female dressed in a high-tech space suit.

“Apologies for the interruption, Your Highness.” She gave a short bow, lowering her head in deference. Arccoo frowned.

“Stiya. I wasn’t expecting you back from Kheros so soon,” Arccoo said, his brows still furrowed in concern. Elena studied Stiya’s belt, the number of gadgets on it almost making her mouth water. Only the apparent seriousness of the situation kept her from blurting out a million questions.

“I’m afraid it’s not good news, my liege.” She looked around at the Flores sisters and Zaraq, tilting her head in question at Arccoo.

“They’re family. You may speak freely.”

Stiya nodded and sat on the chair Arccoo waved her toward. She ran a tired hand across her face.

“I fear that the terraforming project has run its course,” she began, looking pained. “Even the experimental compounds I took recently have shown no improvement to the crops.”

Arccoo swore softly, drawing wide eyes from all three sisters. The outburst was uncharacteristic for the normally composed royal. Elena was the first to recover, leaning forward eagerly in her seat, her food forgotten.

“Terraforming? Where are you doing that?” she asked.

“Kheros is our moon,” Arccoo said for everyone’s benefit. “We have a research team up there to find ways to expand our food supply and purify the air to make it livable.”

“Livable? Isn’t Thryal huge?” Sofia asked, having traveled around it a lot.

Arccoo smiled, though it was strained. “It is one of the bigger planets, yes, but our quality of life has been decreasing for centuries. There isn’t much else we can do that wouldn’t permanently alter the balance of nature with dire consequences.”

Carmen scoffed. “Didn’t stop Earth,” she said snarkily.

Arccoo reached over and took her hand in his. Elena guessed it was as much for his comfort as for her sister’s.

“Our tech is advanced, so we’re able to accurately predict the consequences of each of our actions. We’re reaching the upper limit of population and waste production.” He swore again. “The terraforming project is our last hope.”

“I’m sorry it’s not better news, Your Highness. Rylan is still hopeful, but I thought you should know.” Stiya sighed. “I’ll return in the morning. We still have a few things we can try…” She trailed off, her mouth twisting as if she could taste the half-truth as much as Elena could hear it. “We’re just running low on ideas. It feels like we’ve tried everything.”

“What seems to be the issue?” Elena asked, pushing her glasses up her nose. Stiya gave her a confused look.

“Elena is one of the brightest minds I’ve ever met,” Arccoo assured her.

Elena ducked her head slightly to hide her blush.

Stiya turned to her. “Our lab here did extensive experiments on soil we brought back on our first mission. We thought we’d identified the right components to add, but the practical application is proving difficult. We’ve set up a research station on the moon and started planting. Nothing’s taken so far.”

Elena hummed in thought, brushing a flyaway lock of hair back into her neat bun. The chestnut lock fell out straight away and she gave up, pulling it behind her ear.

“What about the atmosphere? Is it similar to here?”

Stiya shook her head. “Unlike the soil, which has high concentrations of nitrogen, the air is mostly carbon dioxide. Small doses are fine, but breathing too much of it is toxic. Our secondary mission, once we have the crops growing, is to facilitate forestation.”

“We’re hoping to relocate some of our population to ease the strain on Thryal,” Arccoo supplied.

Elena worried at her bottom lip as she thought. Could the atmosphere be causing the crops to fail? No, surely the scientists would have thought of that. Maybe the plants they were growing were just incompatible? If she had access to the research files, maybe she could…

Stiya stood, nodding to Arccoo. “If you have no further questions, I’ll take my rest.”

“Thank you, Stiya. I know the back-and-forth is taxing, so I appreciate you coming to inform me yourself.”

Stiya smiled and turned to leave.

“Wait!” Elena burst out, practically jumping out of her chair. Her mind was racing. Was this where she could finally make a difference and be useful?

Stiya turned, her thin eyebrows locked together. Elena’s will almost crumbled under the sudden attention of her family, both her sisters’ eyebrows high on their foreheads. She stood straighter.This is a great idea. Just say it, she pep-talked to herself.

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