Whenever a new planet was colonised, an inevitable slurry of samples were sent to Station 333 and similar science crews on other central stations. Less frequently, established colonies sent in new samples when lifeforms came in on asteroids or space rubble.

Kala followed Stanos into the empty lab. It was a large room filled with desks and cluttered by microscopes, test chambers, and DNA extractors. A double door to the right led into the containment area they used for larger samples—anything bigger than your head goes in there, Stanos had told her during her first day working there. Protective suits were kept at the back of the rooms, near the sinks and a door leading to the showers.

As they began pulling on their canary-yellow protective suits, Kala glanced at her boss. “What was the alarm about?”

“Hmm?” Stanos asked, apparently deep in thought.

Kala zipped up her suit and pulled a set of gloves out of the box hung beside the sinks. “The assistance request you just came back from. What was it for?”

“Oh, some minor drama with a lifeform the station workers thought was dangerous. It was all resolved days before we got there, but they asked us to hang around for half a day to help repair their solar panels instead.”

“Good,” Kala said then caught herself and laughed. “Well, not good for you if it was a wasted trip. But I’m glad there wasn’t anything dangerous waiting for you.”

“Me too,” Stanos said, beaming at her as he tied off his gloves. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

Kala followed her boss to the table they often shared. Stanos turned around to lean against its edge, ankles crossed, in the pose he always adopted when he needed to explain something to her. “Even though the initial threat wasn’t a problem, I did find something I thought could be noteworthy while I was repairing the solar panels. I’d like you to take a look and tell me what you can about it. Okay?”

“Sure thing.” It was odd that Stanos wasn’t doing the study himself; he was both more qualified and more experienced than she was. Maybe he already knows what it is and this is a test, Kala thought, subconsciously straightening her back a little.

Stanos reached inside his suit and pulled out a small vial with a rubber stopper. Kala took it and squinted at the substance inside.

It was pitch black, like ink, but clumped in a little ball. It seemed stuck to the side of the glass, but when she shook the vial, it came loose and bounced about.

“Is this the full creature or just a section of it?”

“Both,” Stanos said. He was wearing a crooked grin, apparently enjoying her confusion. She had to raise her eyebrows at him before he explained. “If you cut a section off the parent lifeform, it becomes an organism in its own right.”

So he’d already examined it, after all, and wanted to see what she could find out about it. Fair enough. She decided to play along. She pressed the power button on the recording system installed at the back of the desk and began her usual spiel for cataloguing new species.