Three fourteen-year-olds arrive at Solaris Station expecting a reunion, but the station is strangely silent. When an alarm reports an alien object in Section 17, they head straight toward it.
Gaeta pressed her forehead to the transport pod window and watched the Andromeda nebula burn across the dark like a bruised, glowing scar. Beside her, Leo had both hands wrapped around the rail, as if the ship might lurch into nothing at any second. Across the capsule, Iker barely looked up from the holomap in his lap, tracing the station routes with hungry excitement.
Weeks had passed since they left Earth. Weeks of cramped corridors, recycled air, and the same endless stars. But none of it had dulled the fact that Solaris Station was real at last: the largest civilian research facility on the galaxy’s fringe, the place their parents had vanished into months ago, and the prize Iker had earned with his science medals. All three of them were fourteen. All three of them had spent years imagining this moment.
When the pod slid into dock, Solaris filled the viewport. Its great ring stretched out in gleaming segments, all silver ribs and spinning modules, with banks of solar panels unfurling like metal petals against the black. Beautiful. Impossible. Too quiet.
The airlock opened onto a corridor washed in pale light. A maintenance drone rolled past and paused just long enough to speak in a flat, recorded voice. "Welcome to Solaris Station. Please observe safety protocols and follow all posted signs."
Gaeta smiled at the line out of habit, expecting footsteps, voices, her mother calling her name. Nothing came. The corridor hummed with ventilation fans. Indicator lights blinked over sealed doors. No adults. No welcome. No sign that anyone had been waiting.
Leo’s joke died before it reached his mouth. Iker stepped to the nearest panel and dragged his fingers across the screen. The display flickered, then steadied on a single message: Communication network failure. Please wait for technical support.
A thin chill moved through Gaeta’s chest. "We need to find our parents," she said.
Before anyone could answer, an alarm burst through the corridor, sharp and metallic. The lights dimmed. A second later, a voice crackled from somewhere deep inside the station, clipped and urgent: Alien object detected in section 17. Please remain calm. Survey team on its way.
The three of them froze.
Section 17 was close. Too close.
Gaeta looked at the map. Leo looked at her. Iker’s fingers tightened around the holomap until the edges bent.
Then, without saying it aloud, they all started moving toward the research sectors.