His broad shoulders and radiant smile captured her attention even from her distant seat in the monstrous auditorium. The deep thrum of his amplified voice made it difficult for her to concentrate on his speech, despite having looked forward to its scientific content for weeks.

The Intragalactic Conference on Saving Endangered Life Forms only convened once every five years on the planet Climatae. As a postdoctoral student in her final year, it was an honor that earth's consortiums of universities had elected her to go and funded her travel. Her Ph.D. thesis had won her numerous accolades, but attending this conference was her highest achievement yet, assuring her a name in the intergalactic science community, and a job. After four years of earning an undergraduate degree, five years earning a Ph.D. (considered record time), and three years as a post-doctorate it was time to get a real job.

She hadn't even allowed herself time to date which is why she mentally slapped herself when she found herself a second time focused more on Dr. Smyth's chocolate baritone slithering down her spine, than on his lecture on atmospheric cleansing. She would present her work in one of the smaller break-out sessions tomorrow, a smaller room with no more than one or two hundred people, but a crowd of fifty thousand scientists currently hung on every word of Dr. Smyth's lecture, the conference's opening symposium.

Dr. Drake closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Though indoors, she felt as if she was surrounded by the last preserved old-growth forest of the Pacific Northwest United States, a home she'd left long ago. Little wonder, the bioarchitecture exemplified living structures, grown over hundreds of years to meet the needs of the populace of Climatae.

Julia couldn't believe how well she had slept on her first night on Climatae, essentially outside on a treehouse-like structure open to a spectacular night sky. Although the temperature cooled several degrees at night, the living moss blankets and mattresses lining the bed adjusted to its occupant's biorhythm. Even if she hadn't slept well, the oxygen content here exceeded most conference centers so much so that very few attendees required coffee to stay awake.

The grand walls of the auditorium grew in a warm mixture of oranges and greens. Leaves the size of blankets, nestled together tightly on end, rustled from the ceiling filtering soft light from Climatae's earth-like sun. Julia leaned back in her seat's smooth surface which adapted to the occupants dimensions providing excellent lumbar support and looked up at the banner that hung above the crowd.

One Solar System, One Populace

The pull of his voice drew her upright again and she found herself drawn to the sparkle in his blue eyes. She shook her head. His speech was over now and Dr. Smyth stepped away from the podium to make room for Dr. Xanaltan, a short purplish eight-legged inhabitant (aliens and humans were no longer acceptable words to describe beings, even humankind had morphed among the liberal educated of the solar system to inhabitantkind). Dr. Xanaltan hailed from the planet Vardan, and maintained a reputation as THE renowned expert on sustainable intragalactic farming. Julia perked up and took notes.

Three hours later, wearing a black cocktail dress, she drank green tea in the corner of the ballroom. The dinner exceeded her expectations of what a vegan planet could create. She didn't know any of the plants that were served but she had never enjoyed a healthy meal more. While she preferred a cocktail at the end of the day, she didn't recognize anything offered at the bar other than the tea. A healthier choice, she thought and took another sip. The liquid slid smoothly down her throat, she looked again at her beverage, certainly not green tea, but delicious nonetheless. She finished her first and had another, and then a third.

"Are you enjoying your visit to Climatae," said a masculine voice behind her. She jumped and simultaneously registered an alarming tingle radiated down her arms and back. It can't be. Julia turned and found Dr. Smyth standing close enough to smell. And oh did he smell good. Some recess of Julia's mind registered cedar, grass, a simple soap, and a touch of scotch. She stared at him. His shoulders looked even broader this close. Julia's eyes quickly cataloged a dark soft beard, glacier-blue eyes, short-cropped hair, and oddly what appeared to be a titanium left arm.

After an awkwardly long silence, Julia realized she hadn't responded to his question. "Yes," she said, mentally grimacing at the squeak in her voice.

"I'm Brandon," he offered her his hand and she thankfully shook it in a socially appropriate amount of time. Another silence ensued. "What's your name?" he finally asked.

"Oh–huh–Julia," said Juilia cursing her nerdiness. "I enjoyed your speech this afternoon," she managed to say with some semblance of normalcy.

"I'm glad," said Brandon. As soon as the words left his mouth, Julia realized she had no idea what he had said in his talk and she feared a quiz. Thankfully, he moved on. "What line of work are you in?" he asked.

"B-biophysics," was all Julia managed to say in reply.

Brandon looked concerned for a moment. "Have you drank Eveen before?" Julia looked at him blankly. "The drink you are drinking. Have you had more than one?"

"The green tea?" said Julia holding up her glass which she noticed had strangely turned from green to pink.

"That's not green tea," said Brandon chuckling. "That's Eveen," it's highly hallucinogenic to humans. The bartender should have warned you, but he probably thought you wanted to enjoy the fabulous star gazing in a whole new way while you are on Climatae.

Julia looked at her glass as if it had betrayed her. In fact, it actually wasn't a glass anymore, it appeared to be a small plant with technicolor leaves that gave off a low hum. "Oh, shit," she heard herself say.

Twelve hours later Julia lay naked in her heavenly cocoon of moss kicking herself for having acted like such a fool. If only Dr. Brandon Smyth wasn't such a gentleman, she could have lived down a one night stand.

The night returned to her in painful bits and spurts. The discovery she was drinking Eveen and not tea. Brandon walking her back to her 'room'. Her astonishment when she saw the stars in the open air. He worrying she might fall out of the tree house. Hours and hours staring at the sky while being held in his arms, her senses magnified a thousand fold. Rapture. Trying unsuccessfully to seduce him. Repeatedly. The release of his strong arms as she drifted off to sleep at dawn, trying desperately to stay awake, to keep him there just a little longer. A warm gentle brush as his lips kissed her forehead and the tickle of his facial hair.

She looked at the clock. Go time. She had a lecture to give. The butterflies in her stomach redirected her attention as she dressed and packed her computer bag. In addition to her dissertation defense, Julia had presented her work numerous times before, but never before for such a distinguished audience.

The room assigned to her filled quickly and as the lights when down she saw a familiar bearded man enter at the back. When he saw her, his face paled. She saw him stare at the title projected on the large screen above her head: The Biophysics of Nanite Mediated Rapid Evolution: robotic management of genetic code to offset environmental challenges on planets threatened with extinction.

His gaze returned briefly to Julia and for a moment she read an emotion that had she had time to think about would have deeply trouble her. Fear. She must be insane. Thinking back to her behavior the night before, the rational, logical, and scientific parts of her brain all agreed. I'm a lunatic. Then she forced her eyes to look down at her notes and began her lecture.

When Julia clicked off her final slide, the volume of the applause startled her. As the lecture hall emptied out a dozen or so scientists crowded around her congratulating her on her work and asking thoughtful questions. She searched the crowd for Brandon, but couldn't find him.

A purple tentacle pressed softly to her arm and she looked down.

"Hello, Dr. Drake. I'm Dr. Xanaltan, said a high voice. Congratulations on your work, this may have been the best lecture I've heard at this conference, and I've been to many."

Julia thanked him, her face flushing from the praise of such an eminent member of the scientific community.

"There are a group of people I would like you to meet," said Dr. Xanaltan. "There is an important project we have received funding for and we could use your expertise."

They agreed to meet before dinner and Julia continued to bask in the glow of her success. Only one thing nagged at her however. Brendon's absence. She could only blame herself.

A month later Julia sat packed at the Climatae's intergalactic spaceport watching ships arrive and take off. Of course, she had agreed to join Dr. Xanaltan's project and had spent most of her waking hours since the conference looking into an electron microscope altering the genetics of sixty-four Lacedain embryos entrusted to Dr. Xanaltan's team. Enmeshed in such enthralling work, she found it easy not to think of Dr. Brandon Smyth.

The Lacedians population quickly plummeted after they were forced to evacuate their home planet a few decades ago due to industrial atmospheric contamination. Despite ongoing projects the clean the atmosphere, progress was slower than expected. Worse yet, the Lacedian's seemed unable to reproduce anywhere else despite using in vitro fertilization. Geneticists postulated the reason may be due to nuances in gravity and sensitivity to subtle differences in atmospheric radiation.

The embryo's which lay in front of Julia and five surviving adults were all that remained of the species. With the genetic modifications she had provided them, however, she felt confident they could repopulate the planet.

When given the option to travel to Lacedan to see her embryos off, Julia had gladly accepted. Being prone to motion sickness himself, Dr. Xanaltan had informed Julia he had no intention of going. It would be only her, the embryos, five Lacedians, and the crew.

Or so she thought until Dr. Xanaltan's purple tentacles bobbed into view accompanied by a pair of broad shoulders. Julia's mouth went dry.

"Good news Julia," said Dr. Xanaltan. "Our atmospheric specialist has agreed to go too, so you will have some intellectual company for the four weeks you are gone. Have you met Dr. Smyth?"

Julia pulled out a test tube and held it up to the light of the purple heat lamp. The embryos had grown a great deal since they had departed Climatae two weeks earlier. Within an hour they would land on Laced. Julia felt excited and proud the next phase of the project would soon begin.

The heat radiating off Dr. Brandon Smyth's large frame warmed her back and gave her goosebumps. Leaning into him she inhaled deeply. He wrapped his titanium arm around her. After only two weeks of traveling through space together, his body, even its mechanical parts, felt comforting and familiar. A passionate romance had blossomed only hours after takeoff.

At the start of their unexpected journey together, she'd spent long hours trying to convince him to upgrade to biological prosthetics she could design with nanotechnology, but he'd insisted after wearing the old fashioned ones for so long they were him. As they grew increasingly intimate, she had to admit his attractive steampunk body and his intelligent mind was something she liked. 'Loved,' said a voice inside her head, a soft voice she tried desperately to ignore. She needed to concentrate on the mission.

"I'm sorry," he said in a low voice.

Perplexed, she spun around and looked into his eyes. Something in their depths was different. Hard. And she felt the bottom of her stomach drop out. "What? What's wrong?" she asked.

"If I could have cleaned up the atmosphere on Laced, your expertise wouldn't have been required."

Julia felt confused. "It's ok. I'm certain they will survive. We will save the Lacedian race."

When Brandon spoke again his voice wavered. "Julia, I can't let your embryos survive."

Julia felt sure there must be some kind of misunderstanding. She felt she knew him they clicked intellectually and physically so well. She was sure he cared for her and respected her. Had been sure of it. Now the only thing she knew for sure was that she felt nauseous.

"Genetic modification creates risks to the safety of the whole solar system," he said. Julia felt the shift in his body language, his voice.

"You don't really believe..." she began.

"It wasn't a coincidence I was put on this mission. I belong to CEGA, the Coalition to Eliminate Genetic Alteration. So does the crew."

"And us?" Julia didn't think he'd heard her. She wasn't even sure she had spoken the words out loud.

"That wasn't...part of the plan." Brandon pulled her close. "This ship can't land with the shitty autopilot system. The crew and I are leaving now in the escape pod. Come with me. Please."

"NO!" Julia took a step back. Anger swelled. "This is my life's work. This is the future of a species facing extinction." She glared at him.

Brandon's face softened. He looked almost desperate. "Extinction is a natural part of evolution Julia."

"ESCAPE POD PREPARED FOR LAUNCH. T MINUS TWENTY SECONDS" rang out overhead.

"I'm begging you," said Brandon grabbing Julia's hand hastily.

She snatched it back and saw his eyes flicker to the case of glowing embryos. "You're are a monster!" she said. Shoving the test tube she held in her hand back in with the others, Julia snatched the case and ran down the corridor. She reached an automated hatch that quickly opened and closed behind her. Breathing heavily, she slammed against the lock button with the weight of her shaking body and didn't let herself peek through the window.

Alarms blared and the vessel shook so hard, Julia experienced no fear of her impending death. When she regained consciousness it took her a few moments to remember she wasn't in her own bed. The severed hand of a Lacedain lying in front of her and the smell of smoldering electrical wires clued her back to the reality of the disaster around her. But she had survived. Sitting up, a sharp pain in her shoulder registered and she groaned pulling herself out from beneath the toppled control panels of the ship.

All five Lacedains lay dead around her. The only other surviving life forms glowed purple in their case hung in suspension to protect them from any turbulence they might encounter during space travel. Some landing. The sixty-four Lacedain embryos had arrived home unharmed.

The Lacedains themselves were self-sufficient for food and water from birth, but it was the nanobots that ran in their blood that needed minding. Without adult Lacedian supervision, there was no one to temper the self-replicating nanites until the infants were old enough to do it themselves. Without proper monitoring, these beings could quickly become more nanite than biohybrid. Julia shuddered at the thought and briefly considered staying herself, but she knew her human body wouldn't tolerate the toxic planet even if she tried to enhance it with nanotechnology.

Julia faced the second terrible choice she would have to make in one day. Abandon her life's work and let the Lacedains become extinct or move forward with a reckless uncontrolled experiment.

"Which children should we grow first?" asked the stilted crackling voice of the computerized assistant that came with the shoddy ship.

She looked at the assistant with contempt, steeled herself and replied in a grim voice. "Plant them all. Then we fix this spacecraft and leave."