Chapter 5: Stars That Remember
The Aether hovered above the plateau, scarred and smoking, but intact. Torres and Elara tumbled into the open airlock, coughing red dust.
Inside, the ship was wrong. Lights flickered in alien patterns. The walls hummed the Curator’s lullaby. Patel’s empty suit sat at the engineering console, fingers still twitching as if typing.
Elara ripped off her helmet. “Purge all external data. Full system wipe. Now.”
Torres hesitated. “We’ll lose everything we recorded.”
