An Explorer's Cartography of Already Settled Lands
ShortStory 3,611 words Recommended by 3 award/anthology sources
A generation ship arrives at its target planet only to discover a civilization has arisen in the centuries since it was launched. The captain sends the navigator out to explore the planet and see if there’s a place for them there.
Content warnings 2
deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
Quasar links out; the story lives on Tor.com, where the author gets the click.