The silence here was unlike anywhere else - thick, electrifying, stretching all the way to the horizon illuminated by the pale glow of the Earth. The Orion orbital station had been orbiting along its predictable route for years, but no one had been on it for months. Now, as the shuttle 'Prometheus' docked to its main port, metallic footsteps echoed through the empty corridors. Dr Lena Nowicka was the first to appear in the airlock. Her eyes - dark, alert - registered the smallest detail: a crack in the control panel, the hazy lights. She was followed by Artur, an engineer with a weakness for risk, and Sara, an artificial intelligence specialist who repeated with amusement that she "prefers talking to a machine to talking to a human". - 'The security systems are only partially working,' reported Arthur, looking through the holographic consoles. - It was as if someone was trying to disable them, but didn't quite know how. Lena approached the panoramic window. In that strange void, suspended above the blue-grey globe, they all felt a slight pressure in their stomachs. Their task seemed routine: to find out what had interrupted communication with the station and collect data on its latest experiments. But the atmosphere was clearly unsettling - something hung in the air that none of them could yet name. Sara activated the station's main computer. A metallic voice came from the speakers: - Access restricted. Enter authorisation - but then there was interference. For a second, the display flashed a vision of unfamiliar symbols, which disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. - 'This wasn't in any protocols,' Sara whispered, tapping nervously on the keypad. - 'Someone's been messing with the code here... or something. At that moment there was a sudden noise. A muffled, rhythmic sound came from the laboratory section, as if someone - or something - was moving through the deserted room. Everyone looked at each other, and Artur tightened his hand on the torch. - 'I don't think we're alone here,' he said quietly. The air of the station suddenly seemed to thicken as they moved slowly towards the laboratory, feeling the tension build up with every step. The door to the research section vibrated....