The Perseids research station drifted in absolute silence, surrounded by the darkness of the cosmic void. On its deck, just outside the panoramic window, Maja carefully watched the starry sky, analysing the course of the drifting debris. She was seventeen years old and had the fastest mind of all the crew trainees. There was also Leon - a gifted technician who could fix anything that had even a single screw - and Nadir, an avid communications programmer, fascinated by coding regardless of time or place. The Perseids station was built just a decade ago, in orbit of one of the moons of the planet Eirene. Its purpose was to monitor space-time anomalies. However, for weeks the systems had been registering something unusual - regular radio pulses whose source was far outside the known solar system. One night, unable to sleep, Maja accidentally came across the tangled signals during a routine data review. Something in their rhythm reminded her of Morse code, but not quite. She decided to share the observation with Leon and Nadir, knowing that together they could decipher even the most confusing transmissions. Their research took another few days. They printed out charts, analysed the repeatability, tried different decoding methods. Nadir, as usual, stayed up all night poring over the terminal, repeating: "It's like a maze... but every maze has an exit". Finally, during a morning brainstorming session, the signal turned into a clear pattern - a set of coordinates leading to a single location in a sector that had never been explored before. Disregarding the commander's warnings, Maja, Leon and Nadir borrowed a small reconnaissance pod and set off in the direction the coordinates pointed. When they arrived, a huge, silvery structure hovered in front of them - something like a ring woven of shining matter, pulsating with a soft light. It looked like a portal, suspended between realities. The capsule slowly approached the structure, and the team stood in silence, mesmerised by what they were seeing. Only Maja had the courage to speak up first: - Do you think it's... safe? No one knew the answer to that question. Leon was finishing checking the life-support systems, Nadir was continuously monitoring communications. When they were only a kilometre from the ring, suddenly the entire surface of the structure flashed with a bright, pulsating light, and their systems began displaying incomprehensible messages. - 'What's that...? - whispered Nadir, staring at the screen. The next moment there was a sound in the capsule that they had never heard before - as if someone was whispering right next to their ears, but no person was around. Leon looked frightened at Maja, and she held out her hand towards the helm, as if considering whether to get even closer. And that's when something moved on the other side of the ring, casting a shadow over their pod....