A violent gust rocked the dome, causing a helmet and a few other expensive gadgets to crash to the floor.

I guess so.

“Cayden, are you sure your read on the sandstorm is good? It still looks pretty gnarly out there.”

The moment the question left my lips, I wanted to push it back in.

Trust your team, Sols. 

But it was too late. The doubt was out there, exposed.

I turned to the staging area where everyone was in various states of dress and glaring at me—Cayden most of all. Jutting my finger to the window, I hoped to justify my obvious concern. “It still looks like a shit-storm out there. The Commander will have our heads if we don’t finish our inspections this week.”

Well, maybe not their heads, but definitely mine.

Make it work. His smoke-filled parting words as I left his dank little office this morning were as clear as the rare blue sky: do the job or find another one. Yeah right. No one else in the cushy University Domes would hire me and I’d be forced to return to the city, with no money, no prospects and no shelter.

I would be as good as dust.

Cayden, the broad-shouldered red-headed meteorologist, stood to his full height, which was about a foot taller than the rest of us, and crossed his arms. “And like I said an hour ago, the storm will pass by noon. Trust me, ma’am, it will be fine.”

Ma’am.

I shuddered at the word, feeling like I should shrivel up in a corner somewhere. But what else was he supposed to call me? We were not some trained military unit. We were just scientists trying to save whatever was left of the soil after a decade of superbugs destroyed every one of our crops.

And I was their leader.

For now, anyway.

I sighed. Ma’am would have to do.

“Alright Cayden, in ten minutes I better see Dome 5 glistening in the afternoon sun. Any word from the new recruit?”

Cayden and the other members of our team, Angela and Amir, exchanged glances that made my stomach turn to lead.

“What is it this time?” Our last recruit, a head-strong geneticist, had lasted a whole month before he crumpled under the pressure. The one before, she made it a whopping four times down the line before she got lost in a sandstorm and disappeared. Either the position was cursed, or we were running out of capable people to do the job. I wasn’t sure which was worse.

Cayden and Amir averted their gazes but Angela, with her pitch-black hair perfectly framing her pixie face, met mine with a wicked smirk.

“I heard that the new girl is certifiably insane. She’s a horticulturist sent down here from the Northern Research Institute as punishment for attempting some…unethical experiments.”

My eyes went wide. How does a gardener get accused of being unethical? But then again, how can a tiny little bug decimate a planet?

“I highly doubt that’s true, Angela. The Commander wouldn’t have allowed that.”

Of course, he absolutely would have. The slippery man had somehow gone from Dean of a University to Commander of one of the few remaining safe spaces on Earth. And an extra person meant extra rations.

Angela stood, her expression dark. “No, it’s true. I saw her yesterday. She was scampering through the hallways with this weird-ass plant tucked in her arms, whispering to it, like actually having a conversation. And don’t even get me started on what she was wearing.”

Angela looked expectantly at each of us in turn. When no one responded with the same level of outrage she let out a dramatic huff. “If she shows up here, and you allow her to come with us, she’ll mess it up.”

You.

If I, their incompetent leader, allowed such an atrocity as giving this person one iota of leniency, any mistake she made would be my fault.

Got it.

I sighed as I turned back to the window and checked my watch. Only five minutes till our scheduled walk and it was still a sea of white outside. I didn’t blame Angela for being wary. She knows as well as I do that a mistake in this landscape could mean life or death. We’d seen that too many times already. But I had been directed by the Commander to take this recruit on. I hadn’t chosen her, she had been assigned. And yes, from a northern research facility, but a few nuggets of truth didn’t mean the whole story was true, did it? I shook my head. Goddammit, Angela. No wonder no one trusts each other in this godforsaken place.

“Uh, hello?”

All heads whipped around to the tiny figure in the doorway. Her bright orange hair stuck out in every direction while dark green glasses overwhelmed her face. She was already fitted in an outer-dome suit, but not like ours. Well, it was, it was just…newer. Or at least it appeared to have more gadgets attached to it. And tucked in the crook of her arm was a small plant.

Shit.

The girl tiptoed into the room, like a doe checking for predators. “Uh, I’m Cedar. I hope I’m not late.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Angela take a step forward. Predators indeed. So I took two, cutting Angela off and clasping the girl’s hand firmly in mine. “Welcome Cedar, I’m Sols. The lead of this research unit.”

The girl’s eyes went wide as I vigorously shook her hand and I realized I was likely scaring the crap out of her. Good first impression. I released her hand and turned back to the others.

“This is Cayden, our meteorologist, Amir, our engineer, and Angela, our logistics officer.”

Hard faces stared back at us. Cedar fidgeted beside me as panic rose in my throat. If I can’t keep this team together, if I can’t make it work, my life is all but forfeit.

I set my shoulders.

“Alright, everyone listen up. This is how it’s going to go. We are going to put our gear on and we are going to do our job. I don’t want to hear one more whisper of gossip, is that understood? We have no hope in hell of ever reclaiming the soil if we don’t at least attempt to revegetate the land. So get your heads out of your asses and move.”

A bead of sweat slid down my back as the air went still, the shifting sand against the dome the only sound—like an hourglass as I waited for the last particle to fall before my time was up.

And then, one by one, they all stood. My throat went dry. At my side, Cedar stood a little taller. Cayden took a step forward and to my surprise, a small smile spread on his face as he said, “Yes, ma’am,” and then bent to grab the helmet at his feet.

I turned to Angela. She looked like she wanted to punch me in the face but she only nodded once and returned to her locker. Amir gave a thumbs up.

I breathed and checked my watch. Crisis averted and only one minute to go.

As we all gathered at the airlock door, a streak of light pierced through the wall of sand and I got a glimpse of blue sky. The storm was ending.

Cayden, standing closest to the door, flashed a brilliant smile. “See, I told you.”

The whoosh of the airlock release pounded our ears as we entered, allowing the door to close behind us. The outer door swung open and we stepped into the desert that had once been Southern Ontario but now looked more like the Sahara.

Over the next two hours, we methodically worked our way down line 87, checking the various trees, shrubs, and grasses planted at equally spaced intervals, noting the ones that were dead and the ones that had, at least so far, survived. Amir took soil samples while Angela and Cayden deposited new minerals and nutrients.

Cedar was a gem, quickly assessing every site with ease and skill, demonstrating a deep understanding of the natural world—and exactly how much we messed it up.

The team was like a well-oiled machine and for the first time in years, I had hope.

At the end of the line, we all paused. The sandstorm had cleared and for a rare moment, we enjoyed the clear sky, not a cloud in sight. From here we could see the four other domes surrounding the old University—a few of the last remaining shelters in a world too harsh for most living things.

Cedar let out a long sigh. “This is the perfect spot, I think.” She reached into her backpack and pulled out a small shovel, a few tools and the little plant she had been carrying inside the dome. She dug a hole, filled it with what looked like a new type of fertilizer, and tucked the plant into the soil.

The rest of us watched in stunned silence as Cedar stroked the small leaves of the plant, giggling and carrying on.

Cayden laughed nervously, taking a few steps back. Angela shot me a look that somehow said I told you so and this is your problem at the same time.

And she was right. It was my problem.

I motioned for the others to start heading back as I crouched beside Cedar, watching as she reached into that pack of hers, humming a tune I didn’t recognize. What on earth is she going to pull out next? Thankfully, it was only a bottle of water, which she carefully poured around the base of the plant.

“There you go, Bob! Let’s see what you can tell us.”

Her excitement was so infectious, I felt a twinge of guilt at immediately thinking the worst. So what if she was a little odd? Maybe she just loved plants. She was a horticulturist after all.

“Is that an old gardening trick?” I asked as she stood and brushed the dirt from her hands. “Do you talk to your plants to help them grow?”

Cedar gave me a puzzled look. “It is, but in this case, it really does help. Bob is the first of his kind. The first plant spliced with human DNA, that is. He will be able to tell us what he needs to survive so with any luck he will help us restore the area to a place suitable for crops.” Cedar smiled sweetly at the plant. “He was just a bit nervous about today, you know, first time in a new place, but I think he will do fine.”

Cedar packed up her things and waved at the plant. “Bye, Bob! I’ll be back tomorrow to check on you.” She then turned on her heel and skipped off to join the others.

I stood, feet buried in the sand, watching her tiny form slowly disappear. Only when I could no longer make out their shapes did I turn around to the tiny plant. It could’ve been the glare of the sun off my helmet, or it could’ve been a hallucination after a long day, but I swear I saw a little leaf wave.

Make it fucking work.

Reaching out, I patted his leaves.

“Welcome to the team, Bob.”