When Cera had given up all hope and found solace in some old Christmas treasures left in a dead friend's tote, she read the stories and laughed as the bright round balls floated on her damaged ship. Her food was gone, she had very little water and she knew that there was no chance for someone to hear her signal in time.

This was the life she had signed up for as an explorer and she had very little regrets except perhaps of no family, no handsome mate waiting for her return and no small children on a home in a safe place. So in this dark deserted edge of space, she hugged the story of a nutcracker prince and lay dying.