First published 2025
Juna Ceelander and Mai Ste Etienne never should have set foot on Shroud. The distant moon kills humans with its crushing gravity, suffocating atmosphere, and zero oxygen. Commercial crews mine such worlds from orbit, stripping assets without ever landing. But a disaster forces their emergency pod down to the black surface. Radio signals fill the darkness around them. Something lives here. Their ship cannot hear their distress calls. Time runs out as they trek across alien terrain, struggling to survive in their failing suits. The dominant species begins studying them as intensely as they study it. Communication becomes possible, then necessary. When rescue finally comes, Juna and Mai face a crew that sees only profit in this extraordinary world. They must somehow explain what cannot be explained and protect what they have discovered.
Genres: science-fiction, adventure, mystery, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: first-contact, fish-out-of-water
Setting: Shroud, Moon
436 pages · Paperback · Orbit