The night over the Prometheus orbital base was unlike any other. Thomas sat with his nose pressed against the glass, watching the blue glow of Saturn in the distance. His sister Lena rolled her eyes - in her opinion, it wasn't worth staring at the rings once again when you could be playing holo-chess. Next to them, absorbed in coding his new robot, sat Raj. Three friends who had been enjoying their apprenticeship at the station for the past few weeks - yet something hung in the air that night. It all started when a rasp came from the old radio receiver. Raj was the first to jump up. The signal was unmistakable - rhythmic, intermittent sounds reminiscent of a melody, but.... inhuman. Lena took control of the computer and quickly determined that the signal was coming from Gliese 486b, a planet dozens of light years away. Thomas looked at them in disbelief - no signs of life had ever been recorded there before. "This could be the first contact!" - whispered Raj, his eyes shining with excitement. After a few hours of deliberation, secret talks and quick packing, armed with research equipment, a reconnaissance drone and hope, they boarded the research capsule. Their mission was unofficial - no one should know that the three trainees were about to land on an unknown planet to find the source of a mysterious echo. During the flight, Lena decoded a fragment of the signal that sounded like a warning, but the translation was incomplete. Thomas took the controls while Raj scanned the planet's surface. Just before landing, the capsule began to go crazy - all the screens went blank for a moment, and then strange, pulsating characters reminiscent of the ancient alphabet appeared. They came to a stop on a mysterious plateau covered in shiny black crystals. The silence was almost deafening. At one point, Lena noticed that the signal from the receiver had become louder - as if something was waiting for them in the darkness. Raj sent the drone forward. A blurry shape appeared on the screen.... something moved between the rocks, a light flashed, and the signal turned into a single, clear message - this time in human language. "You are not alone here." The sudden trembling of the ground beneath their feet made them all freeze. A shadow flickered on the horizon and the capsule beeped warningly. For a moment, all that could be heard were quickened breaths and the echo of the signal's last words....