Four young explorers travel to the Alpha 7 research station orbiting Orionis. When they dock, the station is silent, strange symbols glow on the walls, and something hidden inside seems to be calling to them.
Three... two... one... launch!
The rocket tore free of Earth and shot into the dark, leaving the blue planet behind in a burst of flame and light. Inside were four friends who had practised for this moment for months: Lena, the pilot; Maks, the technician; Sara, the researcher; and Igor, who had brought his camera and promised to record everything.
Their destination was Alpha 7, a research station orbiting the distant planet Orionis. Lena kept her eyes on the navigation screen while the ship hummed beneath her hands. Maks sat beside the control panels, checking the systems twice and pretending not to be nervous. Sara already had her notebook open, full of questions about the strange plants said to grow on Orionis. Igor pressed his face to the window, trying to catch every flash of starlight on the glass.
Hours later, the station came into view, rising out of the glittering rings around Orionis like a silver web stretched across space. It should have been bright and busy. Instead, one module blinked with an unfamiliar light that pulsed once, then twice, as if someone inside was sending a warning.
Maks leaned closer. "That isn't one of ours."
The rocket matched Alpha 7's docking port with a soft jolt. The airlock opened with a sigh, and cold air spilled into the corridor. Their suits were light, but even so, the temperature made Igor shiver. Lena pushed the inner door open.
The main corridor was empty.
No footsteps. No voices. No researchers waiting to greet them. Only the steady thrum of the station and the faint glow of strange symbols running along the walls.
Sara stopped at the first doorway. "Those aren't letters," she whispered. "At least, not any alphabet I know."
Then the symbols lit up all at once.
A ripple of colour swept beneath their boots, racing along the floor in bright circles and sharp lines. Igor raised his camera, but his hands had gone still. Somewhere deeper in the station, behind the bend in the corridor, something made a low, trembling sound - not quite a beep, not quite a voice - and every light on Alpha 7 flickered toward it.