Atlas escaped Vester, a mining planet turned pirate outpost. He found a better life on a space station, but he never meant to find that life without her. He never meant to leave without Josephine. And despite escaping, he was never able to go far from the planet where he lost her. Six long cycles later and he still can't forget her—not that he ever really tried.

And then he gets a call that Josephine—his Josephine, the one he saw die—has been found on a pirate spacecraft leaving Vester. She's alive. Which means he didn't just leave without her but that he left her alone on one of the most dangerous planets in the galaxy.

Now that he has her back, Atlas can't ignore something still looming over their heads, something more than guilt and the stretch of cycles that separate their joined past and fractured present. If he wants a future with her, he's going to have to figure out what's going on before it's too late.

This story contains—violence, explicit sex, profane language, hurt/comfort, references to sketchy and abusive childhoods, conversations about mental health, trauma, and an emphasis on consent.