The Aether’s engines hummed like a dying beast, their vibration thrumming through the steel ribs of the ship as Captain Mara Voss stared at the static-laced screen. The signal had come from nowhere—no coordinates, no pattern, just a pulse of sound that clawed at the edges of her thoughts. She leaned closer, her breath fogging the glass as the crew gathered behind her, their faces lit by the cold blue glow of the console.
“It’s not a distress call,” said Dr. Elian Kade, the ship’s astrophysicist, his voice taut. “This isn’t any language we’ve ever heard. It’s… rhythmic. Like a heartbeat.” His fingers danced over the controls, pulling up spectral analyses that flickered and died before they could stabilize.
“Maybe it’s a trap,” muttered Rook, the engineer, his arms crossed over his chest. His dark eyes darted to the viewport, where the stars stretched into infinite blackness. “Or a trick. We’ve been out here six months. Maybe we’re just hearing things.”
Mara ignored him, her fingers tightening around the edge of the console. She’d spent her life chasing the unknown, but this felt different—like the universe was watching, waiting. “We need to trace it,” she said, her voice steady. “If it’s a signal, we follow it.”
The crew dispersed, their murmurs fading as the ship plunged deeper into the void. Mara remained, her gaze fixed on the screen. The pulse grew stronger, a low vibration that seemed to resonate in her bones. Then, without warning, the lights flickered. The hum of the engines died. The air went still.
“What the hell was that?” Rook’s voice cut through the silence, sharp with alarm.
“Power surge,” Elian muttered, but his face was pale. “Or something else.”
Mara turned, her boots crunching against the floor as she strode toward the control room. The main screen flickered back to life, revealing a jagged line of data that twisted into something almost… familiar. A pattern. She leaned in, her pulse quickening. It wasn’t random. It was a message.
“This isn’t just a signal,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “It’s a map.”
The crew froze. The map led to a derelict station, abandoned decades ago, its coordinates buried in the archives. Mara’s mind raced. Why would it resurface now? And why had it chosen them?
“We’re going,” she said, her voice final. “No questions.”
The Aether drifted toward the station, its hull creaking under the weight of silence. When they reached it, the airlock hissed open, releasing a breath of stale, metallic air. The corridor inside was dimly lit, the walls lined with rusted panels and flickering monitors. Mara’s flashlight cut through the darkness, revealing scrawled messages on the walls—words in a language she didn’t recognize, but whose meaning seeped into her mind like a whisper.
“This place is a graveyard,” Rook said, his voice low. “Whatever happened here, it wasn’t pretty.”
Elian ran his fingers over a control panel, his expression tense. “There’s still power. Maybe enough to access the logs.” He pressed a series of buttons, and the screen flickered to life, displaying fragmented footage of the station’s final moments. Faces blurred by static, desperate voices overlapping in a cacophony of fear.
“We’re not alone,” one voice screamed. “It’s inside the walls!”
The footage cut to black. Silence filled the room, heavy and suffocating. Mara tightened her grip on her flashlight. “We need to find out what happened.”
As they moved deeper into the station, the air grew colder, the walls seeming to close in around them. Shadows shifted in the periphery of their vision, and the distant hum of machinery echoed like a heartbeat. Then, a sound—a low, guttural growl that sent a shiver down Mara’s spine.
“Did you hear that?” Rook’s voice was barely a whisper.
“It’s just the vents,” Elian said, but his tone lacked conviction.
Mara didn’t respond. She could feel it now—the presence, lurking just beyond their sight. The station wasn’t empty. Something was here, waiting.
They reached a massive door, its surface etched with symbols that pulsed faintly. Mara pressed her hand against it, and the door groaned open, revealing a vast chamber filled with rows of frozen pods. Each one contained a figure, their bodies still, their faces frozen in expressions of terror.
“This is worse than I thought,” Elian said, his voice trembling. “They were trying to escape. But they never made it.”
Mara’s breath caught in her throat. The pods weren’t just for preservation—they were traps. The station had been a prison, and whoever had built it had never intended for anyone to leave.
A sudden crash echoed through the chamber, followed by a guttural snarl. The crew spun around, flashlights sweeping the darkness. Something moved in the shadows, its form indistinct but unmistakably alive.
“Run!” Mara shouted, grabbing Rook’s arm and pulling him toward the exit. The creature lunged, its claws scraping against the metal floor. They burst into the corridor, gasping for breath as the door slammed shut behind them.
“What the hell was that?” Rook panted, his face pale.
“Something that doesn’t belong here,” Mara said, her voice steady. “But it’s still alive. And it’s hunting us.”
They raced back to the Aether, the station’s corridors echoing with the creature’s growls. When they reached the airlock, Mara turned, her flashlight cutting through the darkness. The creature was there, its eyes glowing faintly in the shadows.
“Get inside,” she ordered, pushing Rook and Elian forward. She stayed behind, her hand on the door as the creature closed in.
The last thing she saw before the door sealed was the creature’s face—twisted, alien, and filled with a hunger that defied understanding.
Back on the Aether, the crew stood in stunned silence. The ship’s systems flickered back to life, the hum of the engines returning. Mara leaned against the console, her breath ragged.
“We’re not safe,” she said, her voice low. “Whatever that was—it’s still out there. And it’s coming for us.”
The Aether surged forward, leaving the station behind. But as they vanished into the void, the creature’s growl echoed in their minds, a reminder that some secrets were never meant to be uncovered.
