The air in the command module tasted like metal and static, a thin layer of dust clinging to every surface. Captain Elara Voss adjusted her gloves, the synthetic fibers creaking as she leaned over the control panel. Outside the viewport, the blackness of space stretched endless, punctuated only by the faint glimmer of the colony ship *Aether’s Wake*. Its hull, a patchwork of salvaged alloys, reflected the red glow of the dying star ahead. Elara’s breath fogged briefly against her visor before dissipating. She didn’t speak. The others didn’t either. Words felt unnecessary here, where the silence was heavier than the vacuum outside.
“Power reserves are at 12%,” said Engineer Ravi Kuri, his voice flat, mechanical. He tapped a console, his fingers moving with the precision of a man who’d spent too many hours recalibrating systems that never worked right. “If we don’t reach the relay in six hours, we’re stranded.” His tone didn’t carry the usual sarcasm. Something about this mission had drained the humor from him.
“We’ll make it,” Elara said, though she wasn’t sure if she was convincing herself or the crew. The relay was a ghost, a relic of a failed colony project abandoned decades ago. No one knew why it had been built, only that it was the last hope for the *Aether’s Wake* and the 300 souls aboard. The star ahead, Kepler-452b, had gone dark three days ago. Its light, once a steady beacon, now flickered like a dying ember.
“You think it’s still active?” asked Dr. Mira Solis, her voice softer than the others, but no less sharp. She was the mission’s biologist, her hands always stained with the greenish residue of experimental algae cultures. She’d been the one to suggest the relay as a last-ditch effort to salvage the colony’s oxygen supply. “If it’s not, we’re all dead.” Her words hung in the air, heavier than the silence before.
Elara didn’t answer. She couldn’t. The relay was a gamble, a desperate shot in the dark. But they had no other options. The *Aether’s Wake* was leaking oxygen, its engines groaning under the strain of a journey that should have taken weeks but had stretched into months. The crew was exhausted, their faces gaunt, their eyes hollow. They’d been drifting for too long, chasing a dream that might not exist.
The ship shuddered as the engines fired, sending a vibration through the floorboards. Elara gripped the armrests, her knuckles whitening. The stars blurred into streaks outside the viewport, a river of light rushing past. She closed her eyes for a moment, recalling the last time she’d seen Earth—a fleeting glimpse through a cracked viewport as the colony ship left orbit. The planet had been small then, a blue marble swallowed by the void. Now, it was nothing but a memory.
“We’re approaching the relay,” Ravi said, his voice steady. “It’s… there.” He didn’t elaborate. The others didn’t ask. They all saw it: a jagged structure suspended in space, its surface pitted and corroded by time. It looked like a derelict, a skeleton of metal and circuitry. But there was something else, something that made Elara’s stomach twist. The relay was broadcasting.
“It’s sending a signal,” Mira said, her voice tinged with disbelief. “But it’s not… it’s not in any known frequency. It’s like… it’s singing.” She reached out, fingers trembling as she adjusted the scanner. The screen flickered, displaying a waveform that didn’t make sense—irregular, pulsing, almost organic.
“What does it mean?” Elara asked, though she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
Mira didn’t answer. Instead, she leaned closer, her breath fogging the glass. “It’s a message,” she whispered. “But it’s not from us.”
The ship lurched again, this time harder. Alarms blared, red lights flashing across the control panels. Elara barely had time to brace before the lights went out, plunging the module into darkness. The hum of the engines died, leaving only the sound of their breathing—shallow, erratic.
“What the hell was that?” Ravi’s voice was sharp, edged with fear.
“We hit something,” Mira said, her tone clipped. “Or someone.”
Elara didn’t respond. She reached for the emergency light, its beam cutting through the blackness. The viewport showed nothing but stars, but she could feel it—the presence of something else, something watching. The relay’s signal had changed, its rhythm now faster, more urgent. It was no longer a message. It was a warning.
“We need to get out of here,” Elara said, her voice firm. “Now.”
The crew moved quickly, their steps echoing in the silence. Elara led the way, her hand on the door handle. She paused, glancing back at the relay. It was still broadcasting, its light pulsing like a heartbeat. She wondered if it was waiting for them—or if it had already begun.
The air outside was colder than she expected, a biting wind that stung her exposed skin. The relay’s surface was slick with condensation, reflecting the starlight in strange, shifting patterns. Elara stepped forward, her boots crunching on the frozen debris. The others followed, their movements cautious, their eyes wide with uncertainty.
“This place is… wrong,” Mira said, her voice barely above a whisper. “It’s not just a relay. It’s something else. Something alive.”
Elara didn’t argue. She could feel it too—the pulse of the signal, the way the air seemed to vibrate with it. It wasn’t just a message. It was a call, and they’d answered.
“We need to find the core,” Ravi said, his voice steady despite the tension. “If we can access the data, we might figure out what’s going on.”
Elara nodded. They moved deeper into the structure, their footsteps echoing in the cavernous interior. The walls were lined with strange symbols, their meaning obscured by time. The air smelled metallic, like ozone and decay. Every step felt heavier, as if the space itself was resisting them.
“What if it’s a trap?” Mira asked, her voice laced with fear. “What if this is why the colony failed?”
Elara didn’t answer. She didn’t have one. The relay was their only hope, their only chance to survive. And yet, something in her whispered that they’d already lost.
They reached the core—a massive chamber, its walls pulsing with a faint blue light. The signal was stronger here, more intense, almost overwhelming. Elara stepped forward, her hand brushing against the cold surface. The moment she touched it, the room filled with sound—voices, whispers, a cacophony of language she couldn’t understand. It was beautiful and terrifying all at once.
“What is this?” Ravi asked, his voice barely audible over the noise.
“It’s… memory,” Mira said, her eyes wide. “It’s storing something. A record. A history.”
Elara didn’t know what to say. The relay wasn’t just a machine. It was a repository, a vault of knowledge left behind by those who came before. But why? And who were they?
The voices grew louder, more urgent. Elara felt herself being pulled in, drawn into the flood of images and emotions. She saw cities rising from the dust, ships traversing the stars, people laughing, crying, dying. It was a tapestry of life, woven with threads of hope and despair. And then—silence. The last image was of the relay itself, its light dimming, its signal fading into nothingness.
“They’re gone,” Mira whispered, her voice breaking. “All of them.”
Elara closed her eyes, the weight of the revelation pressing down on her. The colony had been a failure, a tragedy. But the relay—this place—had survived. It had endured, waiting for someone to find it.
“We can’t stay here,” Ravi said, his voice urgent. “The signal’s changing again. It’s… it’s trying to communicate with us.”
Elara opened her eyes, staring at the pulsing light. She didn’t know what the message was, but she knew one thing: they couldn’t leave without understanding it. The relay had called them, and now it was asking something in return.
The crew moved back toward the exit, their steps hesitant. Elara lingered for a moment, her hand still on the cold surface. She could feel the pulse of the relay, its rhythm matching her own heartbeat. It wasn’t just a machine. It was alive, and it had chosen them.
As they stepped back into the void, the relay’s signal grew stronger, its light piercing through the darkness. Elara didn’t look back. She knew they’d made a choice, one that would define them forever. The relay had given them a chance, and now it was up to them to decide what to do with it.
The *Aether’s Wake* drifted in the distance, its lights flickering like a dying star. Elara turned her gaze toward the horizon, where the first rays of dawn were beginning to break through the darkness. The relay’s signal pulsed once more, a final farewell, and then it was gone—its message left behind, waiting for the next traveler to find it.
