The ship crew

Brynn looked like she was somewhere between screaming and collapsing. Every muscle in her body was visibly tense. Jesslyn was almost worried she'd crack a tooth with how tight her jaw was, but found herself too caught up in her own worry to do much about it. Finally, Michelle let out a heavy sigh, wiped her face, and flapped her hands with **** exaggeration.

"Fine," she said, "I need to pull myself together."

She started digging through her suitcase until she pulled out a handful of clothes. She started to unzip the blue jumpsuit they had all worn in the cryo-casket. This finally sparked Brynn into motion.

"Hey, hey! What are you doing?" she shouted.

Michelle held up a hand, exasperated, "I'm changing. I need something a little normal to get me through this. I'll feel better in my own clothes."

Jesslyn murmured something in agreement, but showed a little more modesty by disappearing back into Brynn's control room to change.

Brynn, meanwhile, was transfixed by what she was watching. Michelle had aged well, and probably worked out, or at least watched her diet. She had a little bit of chub but was in excellent shape, all curves and no flabs. Brynn felt her face getting hotter.

Michelle side-eyed her.

"What," she asked, "have you never seen another woman before?"

The younger woman took the question very literally.

"Uh, my professors?"

Genuine shock made Michelle freeze for a moment, which was more than enough time for Brynn to get an eyeful of her cleavage, and to wonder if she was wearing the right size bra. Her boobs looked like they were about to explode out of the white fabric.

Michelle was quiet as she pulled on a simple red shirt, which Brynn noticed was had a decently deep v-neck, perhaps because she had difficulty looking away from Michelle's chest.

"I'm sorry, dear," said Michelle, "I didn't mean anything by it."

The awkwardness was broken when Jesslyn emerged from the control room, dressed like a working woman; blue jeans, sturdy boots, and the classic red plaid shirt. She put a hand on Brynn's shoulder.

"Ok, angel," she said, "want to show me how that analyzer works?"

***

Brynn didn't care much for being in charge, but she walked Jesslyn through the steps of operating a molecular analyzer. Half an hour later, she was wandering around the woods with a collection of plastic bottles and a felt pen, gathering up dirt and marking them down with letters. Michelle and Brynn could see her off in the distance now, seemingly trying to dig a deep hole with her hands.

Brynn had found something useful under the control room's console: a small robot, capable of hovering and solar powered, that had a sort of multi-tool attached to a flexible mechanical tendril. An assistance drone, powered by AI that could do a wide variety of vital tasks. She had it on her lap, prodding at it with a screwdriver to see if she could get it operational. Michelle sat with her.

"You know," the older woman started, "my sons would've been about your age when we left. Do... your people... have relatives of any sort?"

Brynn shook her head. The conversation felt... alien, in some way to her. Like she was being analyzed.

"No," she said, "becoming overly familial is discouraged. Some of us start acting like siblings, especially if we're in the same class, but most don't."

"No legal guardian, even?"

"More like social workers, I think. It's the same person for a while who takes care of us, and then they swap them out. Around graduation, they basically start just coming in to further test your progress."

Michelle looked around nervously. She wasn't a genetically engineered genius, or an activist farmhand, or a highly dangerous woman. She was housewife who happened to take blood samples as a day job. The only use she was at the moment would be to organize the medicine cabinet.

She decided to try another angle.

"I heard you majored in biology," she said, "any interest in the medical field?"

"I know the basics of human anatomy and some epidemiology, but my main focus was ecological engineering. Managing pest animal populations and developing plant-based solutions to economic issues, mostly."

Michelle was beginning to realize how far over her head this girl was. She was racking her brain for another question when the drone in Brynn's lap whirred to life and began to lift into the air.

"Fuck yeah!" Brynn shouted, if you could call the slight raise in her voice a shout. The machine gently drifted down to about eye level.

"Drone, build a campfire."

***

Natasha came back about 45 minutes after sundown. She sunk down by the campfire like she had expected it to be there. No one had touched any of the rations out of fear it might upset her somehow. She gently placed her rifle on the ground next to her, barrel facing towards the woods.

"We're on a mountain. The slope is gentle so you don't really notice at first. The creek is only 15 minutes due west, and you can follow it up to the source, a spring maybe a mile and a half uphill. Lots of strange plants. Anything to report here?"

"We can grow potatoes," said Jesslyn, "maybe apples, if we can get some drainage here. There's water in the ground, a lot of it. If the river weren't so close I'd suggest digging a well."

"I got a drone working," Brynn said, "it can probably handle a lot of the lighter labor for us. Solar powered, so we don't have to worry about it dying suddenly."

A smile crept across Natasha's face.

"That's all good," she said, "I'm proud of you all. We just might make it out here. But now, for the real news."

She reached into her bag and threw out a furry lump. A hole had been burned through it's chest by the concentrated heat of a lasrifle.

"Do you know what that is?" she asked.

"A rabbit?" responded Jesslyn.

"It's food," said Michelle, "we don't have to rely on the rations. We can feed ourselves!"

Brynn stared at the creature. It was a rabbit. Just a rabbit.

"Humans were here."

Michelle and Jesslyn stared at her like she stared at the rabbit. Natasha just smiled.

"We're 15 lightyears away from Earth. Someone brought a rabbit here."