The suns dove into the crimson horizon, straight into the alignment of the artificial crack in which the ocean of methane disappeared. Lost in a thin, toxic veil, the obsidian black monoliths that conducted the lightning were barely visible. It was a surreal view, one that in any other circumstances, Maureen would have spent hours admiring. The deceptive apparent simplicity of the alien design was fascinating.

The roar from the methane-fall increased. Jerked out of her thoughts, Maureen corrected the Jupiter's trajectory slightly to bring the sound down to a burble and keep a safe distance from the rocky ledge. For her today, sailing was like horology: a matter of fine tuning, every move, every second. She didn't want to be too far away from the superconductor ring when the lightning struck, but couldn't risk running aground either. Judy had stabilized her father but the faster they got to the Resolute, the better.

"Still nothing?"

Irritated by Harris's intrusion, Maureen glared at the woman who had joined her on the flight deck.

"No."

Harris put her hand on the wheel. "I'll take over."

"Why? My shift is not done."

"If the sky is any indication, we might be in for a rough night and I'll need you on deck with me so–"

"Those silver clouds?" Maureen cut in, looking to the north as she unwillingly stepped aside.

"Yeah, those clouds." Without warning, Harris put them closer to the wind.

"Hey! Where are you going? We need to stay as close to the ring as possible," she protested, holding tight to the mast as the ship started to dig into the waves.

"Not if the wind and the swell pick up. Trust me, Maureen. We need to increase the distance between that chasm and us now, while we still can."

Trust. That was the problem. How could she trust Harris? Like she had a choice anyway, she thought as she looked at the horizon.

"Go down, Maureen. Get some rest."

After muttering an acknowledgement, Maureen made her way to the top hatch. A searing pain shot down the base of her neck to her lower back as she sat down a few minutes later on the bench at the bottom of the shaft. She was removing her helmet and comp pack when Penny stepped out of the hub.

"Did you see the lightning?"

Maureen put her equipment next to her and sighed, her shoulders sagging.

"I guess the answer's no," Penny said. Just then, the Jupiter jolted hard.

Maureen caught her daughter's arm and helped her sit down on the bench as the ship pitched into a wave.

"What's going on? Is the wind picking up?"

"We had to adjust our course, that's all. It's going to be alright, honey. I promise."

Penny straightened up. "Don't make promises you can't keep. That's what you always taught us, right?"

The sudden hostility left Maureen speechless. Then, she remembered that, without those eight months to sort things out with her rebellious teenager, she was back to square one with Penny.

"Look, I know we've been through rough times and maybe I asked too much of–"

"Now is not the time for a pep talk," Penny interrupted, taking her helmet and comp pack. "I'll put them on the charge station for you. Judy's waiting for you before…" her daughter looked away, but not quickly enough to hide her tears..

"Before what?"

"Harris didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Maureen's question ended in a cry as both she and Penny lost their balance and crashed to the floor.

The ship heaved, then rose up almost vertically and tilted to the left before digging into the sea. Everywhere, objects clashed on the floor. Struggling to get up, Maureen hit her compwatch: "Harris!"

"Sorry, I didn't have time to warn you. Slight change in winds. You might want to hang onto something."

Cursing, Maureen clawed at the edge of the bench to avoid rolling down the corridor as Don staggered out of the storage room where he slept. "Did we hit something?" he asked, moving to help her and Penny regain their footing when Judy's frantic voice rang in the corridor:

"I need help!"

John. Holding herself against the wall, Maureen edged toward the infirmary. Suddenly, an ominous darkness swallowed the hub.

"Hey, Maureen!" Harris called, static breaking over her voice. "This lightning, it's… right? Worst…rio… back…"

A white bolt flashed. "Get inside!" she urged the woman at the helm while in the distance, booms echoed in quick sequences, louder and louder.

"Mom?!"

Maureen froze. Judy was holding the infirmary door frame. Her eyes were wide with fear. Between John and Harris, it was a no-brainer. The Jupiter had to fly.

"Take-off position. Now."

Worrying about Harris's fate was futile, Maureen reasoned as she half-ran half-stumbled into the flight deck. If there was one word absent from Harris's vocabulary, it was sacrifice. Besides, she'd done it before; surviving against all odds, hitching a ride on the kids' Jupiter. Coming back from the dead was her specialty. Although, maybe not today. A direct hit by hundreds of thousands of volts had to kill, no matter the galaxy or universe.

A chill ran down Maureen's spine as she buckled her harness. Waves crashed against the windshield. Behind the raging sea, on top of each wave the ring was visible for a split second before the Jupiter pitched. Something was weird. The lightning didn't hit the monoliths in a straight line anymore. It spread further out on the sides. Even at this distance, it was only a matter of time before a bolt struck the masts.

The thought had barely formed in Maureen's mind before a deafening noise exploded with a blinding light. All the instruments lit up as power came back.

Without hesitation, Maureen lifted the ship up into the stormy sky.

Vibrations shaking her body to the core, Maureen clenched her jaw hard to keep her teeth from chattering and pushed the Jupiter's engines to the max in a vertical take-off. Weight pressed her ribcage and blocked her breath. On the navigation console, the numbers for elevation and speed became impossible to read. Her vision dimmed around the edges when the darkness of space replaced the silver halo of the atmosphere. Swallowing bile, Maureen closed her eyes and took a deep breath to slow down her heart. They had made it.

John… A surge of adrenaline jolted her out of her torpor. Quickly, she launched a scan for the Resolute's watermark and put them on course for the Amber planet where they had found the colonist's ship orbiting the last time. Although they were seven months early in the planning; the Resolute might not be here yet. Or it might have just arrived. It could be anywhere. She had no idea.

The sensors came off.

Maureen allowed herself to feel relief as ten thousand kilometers in front of them, the dark space started sparkling white and purple. And again eight thousand kilometers, ten degrees right of the first. Seven thousand fifteen degrees left. Five on their right.

As dozens of rifts opened around the Jupiter, a cacophony of high-pitched, alien screeching noises resounded through the cockpit.