Better World — Autumn Kalquist

The last humans spent centuries searching for a new Earth. Now they face extinction. For three hundred years, arks have carried the last remnants of humanity through dark space. The ships are old, failing, and every colonist must do their duty to ensure the fleet's survival. Maeve is a metalworker, toiling in the blistering sublevels of the London. She's lost friends and family to the hazardous work conditions and fears every job she's assigned could be her last. All she wants is a little control over her life, but the oppressive sublevel enforcers ensure that's not an option. Now, after decades of traveling, the ships have finally reached their destination: Soren, a toxic planet that may have the resources they desperately need. But mining a planet comes at a price, and Maeve and the other workers will be expected to pay it with their lives. If a better world awaits, Maeve's sure to be dead long before the fleet finds it… unless she finds a way to control her destiny and change it. Better World is a 154 page novella and takes place two years before the events in Legacy Code.