The dinette table was crowded, elbows bumping as we huddled around with mugs of liquid disappointment, aka Ryan’s god-awful coffee. The bastard had beaten me to the pot this morning, and of course, he’d ignored the measurement guide again, dumping in way too many grounds. The coffee was strong enough to dissolve paint, and I was pretty sure my tongue was still numb from the first sip. I cradled my mug anyway, because caffeine was caffeine, and I needed to wake up.


    The crew looked a little worse for wear, still shaking off sleep as they poked at the breakfast rations.


    “Alright,” I said, clearing my throat and setting my mug down. “Once we finish breakfast, let’s get the camp cleaned up and prep to move out. We’ve got more ground to cover.”


    Ryan stretched in his chair, the smug look on his face almost as irritating as his coffee. “Finally. I’m starting to feel like we’ve been camped here for weeks.”


    “Yeah, we’ve been here four days,” I muttered, but he ignored me. Asshole.


    Zoe nudged her half-eaten ration pack aside, leaning forward on the table like she was ready to bolt. “Agreed. We’re not going to learn anything new just staring at the same trees. Let’s see what else this planet has to offer.” She said, her eyes flicking between Danny and Ryan. She was getting antsy, and she was going to pounce on someone soon.


    Joey cleared his throat, setting down his tablet with a triumphant air. “Speaking of learning new things,” he said, looking around the table like he was about to drop a bombshell. “I’ve got some preliminary results on the fruit samples.”


    The chatter died down instantly. Even Ryan put his spoon down, leaning forward with interest. “And?” I asked, trying to sound casual but failing. Was it actually safe to eat, or were we going to find out it was laced with some alien neurotoxin?


    Joey grinned, clearly enjoying the attention. “Well, the good news is, it’s safe. No toxins, no weird proteins, nothing that would cause an immediate reaction.”


    “And the bad news?” Zoe asked, raising an eyebrow, already suspicious.


    “No bad news,” Joey said, holding up his hands. “But there is… a catch. The fruit contains an alkaloid compound similar to ones we’ve seen on Earth. You called it Em, it’s an aphrodisiac.”


    Ryan snorted, nearly choking on his coffee. “An aphrodisiac? Seriously? What kind of planet did we land on?”


    “You mean I landed on?” asked Emily. Truth be told, I landed on it when she tackled me, but details, right?


    “Relax,” Joey said, rolling his eyes. “It’s mild. Barely noticeable in low doses. You’d have to eat a bunch of them for it to have any real effect, or you know, ferment them into a drink or something.”


    Emily leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “So, what you’re saying is, it’s perfectly safe unless someone decides to gorge themselves on alien fruit.” She shot me a knowing look, and yeah, I knew exactly what she was thinking. I shook my head, trying to focus on Joey’s explanation instead of her lips.


    Zoe smirked, her gaze flicking to Danny and Ryan again. “Well, that explains a lot about the design of the fruit. Those veiny tendrils? Definitely trying to send a message.”


    Danny blushed, staring hard at his plate. Ryan looked like he was torn between laughing and throwing his coffee at her.


    Joey, still scanning through his results, frowned slightly. “Actually… there’s something else. Side effects. High doses could cause more than just, uh, arousal. We’re talking heightened aggression, impaired judgment, mood swings, maybe even violent behavior. Like, the way some aphrodisiacs on Earth can push people into fight-or-flight mode instead of just-” He waved a hand vaguely, “-the fun stuff.”


    That got everyone’s attention.


    “So, wait,” I said, leaning forward. “You’re telling me if someone eats too much of this, they don’t just get horny, they might lose their shit and start a brawl?”


    Joey nodded. “Potentially. It depends on the person. Some might just get a little more… uninhibited. Others? Could go full berserker mode.”


    Ryan let out a low whistle. “Great. So it’s not just space Viagra, it’s space PCP.”


    Emily shot a glance at Zoe, then at me. “Remind me to keep this stuff away from you two.”


    “Oh, ha ha,” I muttered, shaking my head. “Joey, are we logging this as edible or not?”


    “Edible,” Joey confirmed, his grin widening. “But maybe not something you want to bring to a first date.”


    The table erupted into laughter, the tension breaking as everyone relaxed. I leaned back, sipping the terrible coffee and watching the crew banter. This planet, this crew, this fruit, it was all insane. But at least we weren’t bored.


    <hr>


    As we continued eating, our mostly-silent-and-therefore-useless ship AI, broke the quiet hum of our conversation. “Alert: Anomaly detected. Significant energy patterns located 53.1 kilometers northeast of current location. Analysis suggests presence of an active portal.”


    Everyone froze, forks and mugs suspended mid-air. The usual light-hearted banter vanished like smoke in a windstorm. I felt the weight of the announcement settle over the table. My hand tightened on my coffee mug as my stomach dropped. “A portal?” I asked, half under my breath. A fucking portal. Here? Now?


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Ryan, who’d dropped his mug and had run to the computer, replied. “Correct. The energy signature matches! A little stronger than what we’ve seen in Sol.”


    I leaned back in the bench, folding my arms as the weight of the words hit me. A portal. After weeks of nothing, zilch, now, out of the blue, this? Where the hell had it been hiding? My jaw tightened. "Well, that changes things,” I muttered, trying to tamp down the knot of unease curling in my gut.


    Across the table, Emily’s chair scraped against the floor as she leaned forward, her green eyes narrowing. “What about the fruit?” she asked, her voice tight, almost pleading. “We barely have four or five samples. We were supposed to study it, Luca. We don’t even know what it could mean for us yet!” She looked crushed, her frustration spilling into the room like a dam had broken. Her hands gripped the edge of the table, her knuckles white. “We can’t just abandon this!”


    I met her gaze, my chest tightening at the sight of her distress. Damn it, I wanted to dive headfirst into this fruit thing too, test it, analyze it, maybe even gorge myself and let Emily make me one of those smoothies she teased about. But a portal? That wasn’t something we could put off. This was the whole reason, the years of savings and mission charter, the survey work, an opportunity to break the level cap? Maybe.


    “We can’t ignore this,” I said, keeping my voice steady, even though I hated seeing her like this. “Emily, I get it. The fruit’s important, but this is bigger. If the System’s active here, we need to know why it’s been so quiet until now. A portal changes everything, about this mission, about this planet.” And yeah, maybe it was fucking with our priorities, but it had to be done.


    She looked down at her hands, then back up at me, her lips pressed into a tight line. I could see the fight in her eyes, the way she wanted to push back. “We don’t even know if it’s stable, Luca,” she said, her voice soft but firm. “What if it’s dangerous? What if it destabilizes the area or brings something through?” Her words carried the weight of experience, of knowing what portals could unleash.


    I exhaled slowly, reaching out to cover her hand with mine. “That’s why we got to go check it out. We don’t rush in blind. But we have to go, Em. It’s not just about the mission, it’s about understanding this place. If we don’t investigate, we’re leaving ourselves in the dark.”


    <hr>


    Zoe smirked, her dreadlocks catching the firelight as she shifted. “You know what this means, right? I was starting to think this planet was too good to be true.”


    Danny hesitated, his brow furrowing. “Or the System took its time to wake up. What if it’s not the same as back home? New place, new rules... and we have no idea what’s on the other side of that thing.” He had a point, but still, my heart was hammering, this was it, what we were looking for.


    “Exactly,” Joey cut in, his voice measured. “It could be an opportunity. Resources, data, hell, even treasure if it’s like what we’ve seen before. But we need to approach this carefully. No charging in blind.”


    Ryan nodded, his sharp eyes glancing between Danny and Joey. “If we can get close enough to analyze it, that might give us answers. Hell, it might tell us why it didn’t show up until now.”


    I let the silence linger as I mulled it over. My team’s instincts were sharp, their ideas sound, but the stakes loomed heavy. A portal here, now? What had triggered it? Was it something we’d done, or was this planet hiding its own secrets? And why did everyone sound so excited about it?


    I leaned back, letting their conversation play out as I studied their faces. There was excitement, sure, but it was edged with tension. Even Ryan, the eternal optimist, looked a little too eager for my liking. And Emily, she was the wild card. Horny as hell one minute, cautious and measured the next. She had this way of pulling me out of my head and grounding me, but right now? She was all caution. Maybe she’d forgotten the rush of fighting mobs, the thrill of the unknown. Or maybe she just knew better. Portals didn’t play fair, and I wasn’t going to pretend they did.


    “We’re not rushing into anything,” I said, cutting through the chatter. “We’ll finish packing up, then head out and take a closer look. We’re done with this site anyways. If the portal is stable, we’ll set up the Peregrine nearby and analyze it from there. No one goes in until we’re sure it’s safe.” I wasn''t about to let anyone, especially not Emily, get hurt.


    Emily’s shoulders relaxed slightly, though her expression remained wary. “I can get behind that plan. But if anything looks off, we pull back. No heroics.”


    “Agreed,” I said. “I’m not looking to get anyone killed over curiosity. But we need more information about this place. That’s why we’re here.” We had a job to do, after all. Even if part of me just wanted to stay here, in this weird, peaceful place, and forget about portals and monsters and the rest of it. It had been idelic, all quiet and romantic and stuff. I could see myself settling down here with the forbiden fruit and Emily and...


    Chris, who had been listening quietly, finally spoke. “And if it is a portal, we’re prepared. We’ve got the gear, and we’ve got each other. That’s all we need.” He said it so calmly, like he was talking about a walk in the park. I had to admire his confidence, even if I didn''t entirely share it. He was probably looking forward to it more than I was.


    <hr>


    As everyone got up from the table, moving to gather their gear and dismantle the camp, there was this renewed energy in the air. Like a bunch of dogs who''d just been told they were going for a walk. We had a long day ahead, and plenty of unknowns, but the prospect of uncovering a new mystery gave everyone a sense of purpose. Even me.


    I took a last sip of my now-cold coffee, then scanned the horizon. The faint red light of New Dawn’s sun cast long shadows over the rocky outcrops and tangled vegetation. Four days on the surface, and it still felt strange to breathe air that didn’t sting the lungs, to walk under a sky free from the pulse of active portals. It was almost... peaceful. Almost. But four days without a single hostile encounter felt wrong, like a calm before a storm we hadn’t seen coming.


    If this was anywhere in Sol, we’d already be dodging attacks, our supplies half gone by now. Nowhere was safe there, not unless you shelled out for a Territory Control Tower to set up a safe zone. And even those weren''t foolproof.


    “Everything’s packed and ready,” Ryan called out, hoisting a crate onto the back of the Peregrine. I could sense the restlessness beneath his casual confidence. Four years of grinding portals, and now we were level-capped, stuck at level sixty with nothing to show for it but gear we barely needed. I understood; we’d all been craving something new, a challenge, and New Dawn was supposed to be it. A fresh start, a chance to explore without always watching our backs. But now... this portal.


    Emily approached, wiping her hands on her suit, a streak of dirt smudging her cheek. She looked kind of cute, all smudged and determined. “We’re good to go,” she said, her voice upbeat but clipped. She was trying to keep the mood light, but I could tell she was just as on edge as the rest of us. And as on edge as I was, I wanted nothing more than to be back on the Triumph, naked with her in my bed. “Ready to head out?”


    “Yeah,” I replied, though I hesitated, looking over the treeline. It wasn’t quite paranoia, but I’d learned not to trust the quiet. “Let’s send the latest data to the Triumph before we move, just in case.”


    Emily gave me a quick peck in the cheek, then jogged back to help Ryan, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Seven weeks to get here, years of planning, and now we were just ticking off items on a list. But the portal alert... that had changed things.


    We’d scanned the system up and down, and nothing had shown up until now. Like a switch had been flipped. Or like something had been… awakened.