The thick, sulfuric air clung to Dr. Elena Voss’s faceplate as she stepped off the shuttle ramp. Beneath her boots, the ashen soil of Gliese-712c crunched like brittle glass. The landscape was an eerie, monochromatic expanse, dotted with jagged outcrops of obsidian-like rock that reflected faintly under the dim red sun. Her team fanned out behind her, scanners buzzing as they began the monotonous ...