The Darklady — Scott Moon

Captain Jena Morrison-Diablo meets an alien that will change her outlook on the galaxy...for eternity.

As part of the greatest exploration project ever launched, she's been assigned an all-star crew that includes her husband and her sister.

She wakes up for the final phase of the mission to find two members of her crew have been up for weeks, without bothering to rouse their captain from cryo-sleep. She's less than amused. If she were the jealous type, well…

The demands of the mission soon take precedence, however, as she makes first contact with an alien race. Someone will need to make the ultimate sacrifice to ensure the success of the mission.

(Short Story - Military Science Fiction - Alien First Contact - Exploration)

(Originally published in the Explorations: First Contact anthology by Nathan Hystad)