Apologies from the Uninhabited Planets
Five supposedly empty planets send messages to the people who surveyed them. Each story asks what a place owes its visitors and what visitors have mistaken for silence.
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The Island That Needed a Reference
A marine surveyor discovers an island applying to join the mainland. To approve it, she must visit the three continents listed as its previous employers.
The Sun Is Hiding Something Small
A solar-salvage engineer detects a tiny artificial shadow inside a star's observation field. Recovering it becomes a rescue mission when she learns that the supposedly empty device is sheltering a civilization her employer wants to study at any cost.
The Galaxy Has a Loose Screw
An orbital repairwoman receives the same impossible screw from nine unrelated star systems. Removing the next one could let an empire fold itself out of existence.
The Planet Next Door
A quiet suburb wakes beside a second Earth whose residents want to borrow tools, not conquer anyone. The first loan changes gravity.
We Sent the Ocean a Voice Note
An undersea communications engineer receives a reply from an ocean her company classified as empty. Negotiating first contact means persuading her own crew that a place can refuse the research meant to explain it.
My Planet Is on the Menu
A planetary chef is asked to prepare a diplomatic meal and realizes her home world is listed as the main course. She must prove the empire's appetite is a translation error.
The People Who Lived in the Pause
A sound editor discovers tiny communities living inside the silences she removes from recordings. Each linked story follows a resident facing the next cut.
Earth Is Somebody's Snow Globe
When astronomers discover a crack in the sky, the only person who recognizes the problem is a retired snow-globe repairer.
The Embassy of Missing Planets
An interstellar ambassador discovers every planet her government claims to represent has moved without leaving a forwarding address. The janitor knows where the first one went.
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