Eryx is part of a team of scientists charged with monitoring and protecting relocated animals on a privately owned planet. When sensors indicate poachers, Eryx leaves base to confront them, only to lose his way in a sudden snow. After trudging to a nearby observation station for shelter, he comes across an unexpected intruder.<br><br>Smuggler Leander flies an old, sometimes unreliable ship. When the engine starts to fail, he attempts to set down on the nearest planet where he’s stashed supplies, but his descent turns into a crash, and he’s forced to take shelter wherever he can.<br><br>The two can’t possibly trust each other, but storm projections show they’ll be stuck together for days. Worse, the poachers aren’t letting a little inclement weather stop them, and they’re armed and ready to kill. Can Leander and Eryx put aside their differences and save the animals -- and themselves -- before something disastrous happens?

Under Snow and Stars

“I’m not going to keep fetching things for you. You want water, go get it. You try anything—anything—and the computer will hold you accountable. Understand?”


“Yeah,” said Leander, surprised as he swung off the table. He hadn’t expected to be freed this easily. “Guess you’re really not an asshole, are you?”


“You can fill your glass from the sink,” said Eryx, returning to his tinkering.


Leander hesitated at the edge of the vet table, his back stiff. He was moving and the base hadn’t given a warning, or a warning shot, or killed him yet. He was very certain now it wasn’t equipped to handle that sort of thing, and Eryx wasn’t used to bluffing if he forgot he’d left Leander under the impression that movement meant death. It wasn’t as though Eryx had commanded the program to stand down.


Leander rubbed his temple. Probably a good thing Eryx had stumbled across him and not a poacher, or he’d be dead by now.


Chapter 12