This is a prompt I suggested for part of a Galley Table topic. If you use this topic, keep your eyes on twitter / facebook /google + and come join us as we talk about this topic.
Humans have colonized 20 or so other planets. Faster than light travel has not been accomplished, and the planets are far enough apart that it take 20/30 years to get from on to the next. The last planet colonized sends a ship back to the other planets as a kind of cultural exchange. The plan is for the ship to make a loop, and come back to the last planet. The ship carries, unknown to the people on board, a disease that is killing the colonies it visits.
These prompts are part of our Tuesday Fiction Contest. For more information Check out the rules and of course visit Flying Island Press
