Humanity’s first mission to an exomoon will answer our greatest question: we are not alone.

When humanity began searching for alien life, we never expected to find it close to home. But after a robotic probe detects an ocean-covered moon in the Alpha Centauri system, the Earth Space Administration wastes no time dispatching a manned mission. In 2114, the DSRV Challenger arrives in orbit of Rigil Kentaurus, bound for its lone planet, and its extraordinary moon Thamiyn.

Anita Powell isn’t an astronaut, but she’s been in space so long she might as well be. An accomplished, physicist, she directed the project that built the first fusion reactor on Ganymede. In the process she missed four wedding anniversaries and three of her son’s birthdays. She tells everyone she hates knowing how much time with her family she’s missed. But the truth is, if her family mattered more than her work, she wouldn’t have left Earth in the first place. When ESA announces the Aquarius 1 mission to Rigil Kentaurus, she can’t pass up the chance to be one of the first humans to see a habitable alien moon up-close.

While Anita’s role as chief scientist makes her crucial to the mission, if the Challenger does find life on Thamiyn, one member of the crew will be even more vital: Karen Hernandez, the first marine biologist in space. Karen beat out hundreds of applicants to do something no one in her field had ever done before. And she did it despite specializing in cetacean studies, knowing on a moon that’s never had dry land there probably won’t be any whales.

Though Anita is used to taking charge and asserting herself, Karen struggles with imposter syndrome, aggravated by her fraught relationship with the mother she left behind. But when a fateful encounter with an alien cephalopod leaves Anita fighting for her life, Karen must step into the spotlight. And her exploration of Thamiyn will reveal more than anyone could have imagined, including a revelation that will challenge mankind’s understanding of intelligence.

Work in Progress