Chapter Three: Station 9
They reached Station 9 shortly before sunset.
The path through the forest was narrow and overgrown. Daniel carried two flashlights. Mika had
a backpack containing water, snacks, a power bank, and a notebook.
"Why did you bring snacks?" Daniel asked.
"We might be here for hours."
"We're investigating an alien signal."
"Aliens probably get hungry too."
Daniel laughed.
The abandoned station appeared between the trees.
It was larger than Mika expected.
A concrete building sat beneath the tower. Rust covered the walls. Old warning signs hung
crookedly from the entrance.
The door was locked.
Daniel pulled out a screwdriver.
Mika stared.
"You carry that around?"
"My uncle says you should always have tools."
"Your uncle sounds paranoid."
"My uncle owns a hardware store."
"That explains it."
They managed to force the door open.
Inside was darkness.
Dust covered the floor.
Old equipment filled the rooms.
Most of the computers had been removed, but several monitors remained.
Mika turned on her flashlight.
"Look."
On the wall was a large circular symbol.
The same eye-shaped constellation from the photograph.
Daniel stepped closer.
"That's not a government logo."
"No."
Mika opened her notebook.
She copied the symbol.
Then every monitor in the room turned on.
Both teenagers jumped.
The screens displayed static.
A countdown appeared.
00:59
Daniel stepped backward.
"That's probably bad."
"Probably."
00:45
Mika looked around.
"Where's the power coming from?"
00:30
The station had been abandoned for years.
There shouldn't have been electricity.
00:15
Mika noticed something beneath the floor.
A faint blue glow.
"Daniel."
"What?"
"The floor."
The countdown reached zero.
Every screen displayed the same message.
ORION GATE: ACTIVE
Then the floor opened.
Not collapsed.
Opened.
A circular section of concrete separated perfectly from the rest and descended into darkness.
A staircase appeared.
Mika stared.
Daniel whispered:
"That wasn't on any map."
"No."
The blue light grew brighter.
A mechanical voice spoke from below.
"AUTHORIZED OBSERVERS DETECTED."
Daniel looked at Mika.
"Observers?"
The voice continued.
"GENETIC MATCH CONFIRMED."
Mika's stomach dropped.
"Genetic match?"
The machine paused.
Then:
"DESCEND."
Daniel shook his head.
"Absolutely not."
Mika stared into the glowing staircase.
She knew they should leave.
She knew this was dangerous.
But something inside her wanted answers.
She stepped onto the first stair.
Daniel sighed.
"You're really doing this."
"Apparently."
He followed.
Chapter Four: Beneath the Earth
The staircase descended far deeper than either expected.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
Fifteen.
The walls changed from concrete to metal.
The temperature dropped.
Eventually they reached a massive underground chamber.
Mika stopped walking.
The room was enormous.
Hundreds of machines surrounded a circular platform in the center.
Above it floated a sphere of blue light.
It was not connected to anything.
It simply hovered.
Daniel slowly raised his flashlight.
The flashlight turned off.
Mika's phone turned off.
Every electronic device stopped working.
The blue sphere brightened.
A hologram appeared.
A woman stood before them.
She looked about thirty years old.
She wore a white research uniform.
"Mika Reyes," the hologram said.
Mika's blood ran cold.
"How do you know my name?"
The hologram continued.
"Daniel Cruz."
Daniel stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
"My designation is Dr. Elena Vale."
Mika stared.
"You're a hologram?"
"Yes."
"Where are you?"
There was a pause.
"I no longer exist in the physical form you understand."
Daniel whispered:
"She's dead."
The hologram looked at him.
"I died 117 years ago."
Silence.
Mika felt her hands become cold.
"What is this place?"
"Station 9 was never a communications facility."
"What was it?"
"A door."
The blue sphere pulsed.
Dr. Vale continued.
"Humanity discovered evidence of an artificial structure beyond the orbit of Neptune in 2089."
Daniel frowned.
"But that's impossible. This is 2026."
"Your calendar is 2026."
Mika stared at her.
"You mean..."
"Your civilization has not yet reached the point in history when the discovery occurs."
Daniel looked confused.
"Then how are you here?"
Dr. Vale smiled sadly.
"Because you're standing inside a message sent backward through time."
Mika's mind raced.
"Time travel?"
"Not exactly."
Dr. Vale pointed toward the sphere.
"That is an information bridge. It cannot transport matter. It can only transmit information."
"Why send it here?"
"Because we failed."
The chamber became silent.
Dr. Vale's expression changed.
"The stars disappeared in our time."
Mika remembered the previous night.
"The same thing happened?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"We never discovered the reason."
Daniel asked:
"What happened after the stars disappeared?"
Dr. Vale looked toward the sphere.
"We received a message."
"What message?"
Dr. Vale spoke slowly.
"WE FOUND YOU."
Mika felt a chill.
"The same message."
"Yes."
"What found you?"
Dr. Vale didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she said:
"Humanity believed the universe was empty."
She looked upward.
"We were wrong."