High School Countdown

The Files

The library at New Meridian High was nothing like a normal high school library. Instead of rows of books, it was filled with computer terminals, virtual reality stations, and holographic display screens. Everything was connected to the main server, which was locked down tighter than a spacecraft airlock.

Marcus sat at a terminal on the third floor, pretending to work on his History essay. Around him, other students typed quietly or scrolled through digital textbooks. Nobody paid attention to anyone else. That was the thing about lunar schools—everyone was too focused on their own work to care what others were doing.

Except Kess. She sat two tables over, and she kept glancing at him. They had a plan. It was a bad plan, but it was all they had.

At exactly 3:45 PM, Kess got up and walked toward the bathroom. Two minutes later, Marcus followed. Nobody noticed. Nobody ever noticed.

The bathroom was empty. Kess was waiting by the sink, a small device in her hand about the size of a thumb drive.

"This is a data bypass," she said quietly. "My brother sent it to me last month. He works in IT at the main colony. He said it could c***k most standard school security, but I've never actually used it."

"You have a brother in IT and you didn't mention this before?" Marcus asked.

"I didn't think I'd need it," Kess replied. "And honestly, I wasn't sure it would work. But if anyone can hide files on the school server, it's the administration. They control the system."

She pulled out a small folding tablet from her bag—something most students weren't allowed to carry. "Come on. There's a maintenance closet on this floor. I checked earlier. It connects to the server room."

They moved quickly. The hallway was clear, but Marcus's heart was pounding. If they got caught doing this, it wouldn't just be detention. They could be sent back to Earth. Expelled from the colony's education system entirely. That was serious.

The maintenance closet was exactly where Kess said it would be. Inside, surrounded by cleaning supplies and repair equipment, was a panel marked "Server Access—Authorized Personnel Only."

Kess opened the panel with a tool from her pocket. Behind it was a port with several cables and connections.

"This is it," she whispered. She plugged in her bypass device, and the tablet came to life. Lines of code scrolled across the screen in green text. "Stay watch. Tell me if you hear anyone coming."

Marcus positioned himself by the door, listening. In the distance, he could hear the sound of students in the hallway, the hum of the biodome's life support systems, and the constant, faint buzz of the school's computers. His hands were sweating.

"Got it," Kess said after what felt like forever but was probably only ninety seconds. "I'm in. Basic access, but it should be enough. Let me search for files related to the construction site."

More code scrolled. Then Kess stopped.

"Marcus. You need to see this."

He turned around. On the screen was a document. The header was stamped "CLASSIFIED—LUNAR COLONY ADMINISTRATION."

Kess scrolled down, reading aloud in a barely-audible whisper: "Artifact discovered during initial lunar colonization surveys, 2089. Location: 12 kilometers beneath the surface of the Moon's far side. Transportation to New Meridian location commenced 2134. Reburial at New Meridian High School construction site approved 2145."

"They buried it here on purpose," Marcus breathed.

"Keep reading," Kess said, her voice shaking slightly.

"Artifact shows signs of advanced technology. Composition unknown. Estimated age: over 200,000 years. Origin: non-terrestrial. Structure includes beacon mechanism. Beacon activation risk: EXTREME. Protocol: Complete containment and monitoring."

There was more. Marcus scanned the next section:

"Communication attempts made 2098, 2105, and 2112. All communication resulted in increased beacon activation sequences. Current status: Beacon in dormant state. Power source: unknown. Potential scenarios for beacon activation include: increased radiation exposure, electromagnetic fluctuation, physical damage, or proximity of matching signal."

"Matching signal?" Kess looked up at Marcus. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know," Marcus said. "But it sounds like they're scared it might wake up."

A new document appeared on the screen. This one was more recent. The date was from three weeks ago.

"Seismic activity detected in lunar sector 7," Kess read. "Three small tremors in the past month, centered approximately 2 kilometers from New Meridian High School. All tremors attributed to natural geological settling. However, ground-penetrating radar shows increased electromagnetic activity in the area surrounding the artifact. This activity correlates with seismic events."

The final paragraph was highlighted in red:

"Recommendation: Immediate evaluation and possible relocation of artifact. Risk assessment suggests that continued seismic activity could trigger unintended beacon activation within 12-18 months. If beacon activates, all communication protocols are unknown. Potential outcomes range from simple signal broadcast to complete systems failure throughout the lunar colony."

The tablet went dark.

"No," Kess said, tapping the screen. "Come on, come on."

Footsteps. In the hallway. Getting closer.

Marcus grabbed the bypass device and shoved it back into Kess's hand. She stuffed the tablet into her bag just as the footsteps passed by the closet. They froze, barely breathing.

The footsteps continued down the hallway and faded away.

"That was close," Kess whispered.

They waited another full minute before carefully opening the closet door. The hallway was empty. They walked out separately, trying to look casual, even though Marcus felt like his guilt was written all over his face.

They met again in the library, at the same tables as before. This time, they didn't try to hide what they were doing. They just sat there, processing what they'd found.

After ten minutes, Kess sent him a message on the school chat system: *"Meet me on the observation deck. North wing. 7 PM. Tell no one."*

Marcus checked the time. That gave him three hours to eat dinner in the cafeteria, act normal, and pretend that he wasn't sitting on the biggest secret he'd ever encountered.

It was impossible.

---

The observation deck on the north wing was mostly empty at 7 PM. A few students were scattered around, looking out at the black sky and the distant Earth. Marcus found Kess standing alone by the transparent aluminum wall, her reflection ghostly in the glass.

"It's an alien ship," she said without preamble. "That's what it is. That's what the beacon is."

"Or it's something left behind by aliens," Marcus corrected. "A long time ago."

"Same thing." Kess pointed up at Earth, the blue-white dot in the vast black above them. "They found it when they started colonizing the Moon. And instead of telling anyone, instead of letting scientists study it, they buried it. Here. Under our school."

"Because they were scared," Marcus said. He'd been thinking about this the entire day. "If that beacon is some kind of signal, and if it goes off..."

"Then whatever is on the other end of that signal will know where to find it," Kess finished. "They'll know where Earth is."

They stood in silence for a moment. Outside, the stars didn't twinkle. They just shone, constant and cold and impossibly far away.

"That document said 12 to 18 months," Kess continued. "It's been three weeks since that report. That means we have maybe 11 and a half months before the seismic activity triggers the beacon."

"Unless it's already triggered," Marcus said quietly. "Unless the beacon is already waking up and they don't know it."

"There's something else," Kess said. She pulled out her tablet again and showed him a different file. This one was an email thread between Dr. Voss and Colonel Hayes, dated just five days ago.

*"Increased activity detected. My team is recommending immediate evacuation and beacon relocation. This is not sustainable. We cannot keep a potentially active alien beacon under a school full of teenagers. It's not ethical."*

That was from Dr. Voss.

The reply was from Colonel Hayes:

*"Earth Command says we maintain current protocols. No relocation. No evacuation. They're sending a specialist team, but it will take eight weeks to arrive. Until then, we contain and monitor. Tell no one. That's not a suggestion."*

"He's a physics teacher," Marcus said, staring at the message. "And he knows. He's known the whole time. That's why he got angry when you found the artifact."

"He's trying to protect us," Kess said. "In his own way. But he can't. Nobody can. If that thing activates..."

She didn't finish the sentence. She didn't need to.

Marcus understood. If the beacon activated, if it sent out a signal, if something out there answered that signal... then everything changed. The safety of the Moon colony. The safety of Earth. Everything.

"We need to tell someone," Marcus said. "Someone we can trust."

"Like who?" Kess asked. "The adults in charge already know. They already decided to hide it. If we tell other students, we cause panic. If we tell our parents, it gets reported to Earth Command, and then what? They'll probably just tell us to keep quiet anyway."

"So what do we do?"

Kess looked back up at Earth, at that small blue world suspended in the darkness.

"We figure out what that beacon is," she said. "We figure out what it's trying to communicate. And we figure out if there's any way to stop it from activating. Because if we don't, nobody will. The adults have already given up."

Marcus felt the weight of it settle on his shoulders. Just this morning, his biggest worry was Chemistry homework. Now he was standing on the Moon, 238,000 miles from home, looking at a countdown clock that was ticking down to something nobody could predict or control.

"Okay," he said. "Then we're going to need help. We're going to need people we can trust."

"Like who?" Kess asked.

Marcus thought for a moment. Then he thought about Yuki, the astrophysicist prodigy in their year who was smarter than both of them combined. He thought about Eron, the hacker who could get into anything. And he thought about someone else—someone who might actually be able to help them understand what they were dealing with.

"I have an idea," Marcus said. "But you're not going to like it."

"Try me," Kess said.

"We need to talk to Dr. Voss."