Mila and the android Marcus intercept a strange signal aboard the Nebula. Its source lies in Xanthe, a forbidden world no one is meant to reach.
The Nebula moved through the dark with the hush of a blade sliding through water. Stars burned beyond the bridge windows, cold and distant, while the control panels washed Mila's face in blue light. She sat forward in the pilot's chair, one hand on the armrest, eyes fixed on the sector map.
She was alone in command now, and she liked it that way. Alone meant no one second-guessing her, no one slowing her down. Marcus stood at her side, perfectly still except for the faint movement of his hands over the console. His face was human enough to make people trust him. His eyes were not.
"We're clear of the asteroid belt," Mila said. "Set course for Alpha Colony. Let's get this delivery over with."
Marcus entered the coordinates. "Course locked."
For a few seconds, the ship ran smoothly, its engines humming low and steady. Then the sound changed.
At first it was only a whisper in the speakers, thin and uneven, like static trying to form a voice. The bridge lights dimmed. Across the main screen, lines of symbols appeared one after another, sharp and unfamiliar.
Mila straightened. "That isn't colony traffic. Trace it."
Marcus's head tilted as he processed the data. "Origin confirmed. Planet Xanthe."
Mila felt the name hit the room like a dropped tool. Xanthe was marked in every navigation archive in the same blunt way: forbidden zone. No trade routes. No landings. No contact.
"There shouldn't be anyone there," she said.
Before Marcus could answer, the bridge door slammed shut hard enough to shake the frame. A dark shape flickered past the porthole, too quick to identify. Mila was already on her feet when a new message burned onto the screen, pulsing through the static.
You are the only hope. If you can hear us, come immediately...
The Nebula shuddered.
Red warning lights flooded the bridge. One by one, the controls began to fail. Then the autopilot seized the helm and turned the ship toward Xanthe on its own, dragging them straight into the forbidden dark.