Episode 4: The Threshold
229 Words
The air inside the docking bay was thick with tension. Captain Voss stood at the airlock, suited up and ready. Beside him, Commander Holt, Dr. Rao, and Engineer Ng completed their final checks. The alien vessel loomed just beyond the force field—silent, dark, waiting.
Voss activated his comm. “Luma, status?”
The AI’s voice came through their helmet speakers. “No energy readings from the vessel. Atmosphere unknown. No detectable life signs.” A pause. “Recommend extreme caution.”
Voss exhaled. We’re past caution now.
The airlock cycled. The ramp extended into the open passageway of the alien ship. As they stepped forward, their suit lights barely pierced the darkness. The walls—if they could be called that—were smooth, shifting, as if the ship itself was alive but dormant.
Ng muttered, “This place is… wrong.”
Rao ran her scanner along the walls. “There’s something strange about the material. It’s not metal, not organic. It’s almost like—”
A pulse of light flickered deep within the corridor. Then another. Like distant, watching eyes.
Holt raised her weapon. “We are not alone.”
Suddenly, the Signal blasted through their helmets—louder, sharper, urgent.
Then, the doorway behind them sealed shut.
The ship had taken them in.
And it had no intention of letting them go.
To be continued...
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