The silence of deep space was absolute. Nebu-9 drifted forward, the anomaly shrinking behind them as they entered a region of the gaxy where no human had ever set foot. The ship’s engines hummed softly, keeping them steady against the shifting gravimetric tides of this unknown frontier. But as the stars ahead seemed to stretch impossibly far, an unsettling feeling settled over the crew.

  Commander Elias Vance stood at the helm, gripping the armrest of his chair. His mind was still repying the message they had received moments before their jump: "Then let the prophecy unfold." It was cryptic, yered with implications he couldn’t yet decipher. But one thing was certain—whoever had sent it knew they were coming.

  "Nova, status report," Elias said, his voice steady.

  "All systems are operational," Nova responded, though there was a hesitation in her synthetic tone. "However, there are anomalies in our sensor readings. Space itself appears... inconsistent."

  Aria Soce frowned from her station. "Define inconsistent."

  The main holo-dispy flickered to life, revealing the space ahead. But something was off. At first gnce, the cosmos looked normal—distant stars, swirling nebue—but then the image distorted. Stars blinked in and out of existence. Space itself seemed to warp, as if reality was unravelling at the edges.

  Dr. Kieran Locke leaned forward, adjusting his gsses. "That... shouldn’t be possible. If this were a gravitational distortion, we’d see a singur source—like a bck hole. But this... This is behaving more like a mirage."

  "Are we looking at real-time data?" Elias asked.

  "Yes," Nova confirmed. "But I am unable to verify its accuracy. Something is interfering with our perception."

  Lucas Holt, the ship’s engineer, muttered under his breath. "Great. First, an entity hijacks our AI. Now, space itself is lying to us."

  "If this is some kind of illusion," Sienna Rell, their pilot, spoke up, "then what’s actually out there?"

  The question hung in the air, heavy and unspoken. Because none of them had an answer.

  THE FIRST ENCOUNTER

  Hours passed as the Nebu-9 drifted deeper into the anomaly. The crew worked tirelessly to decipher the distortions in their readings, but no logical expnation presented itself. Every time they tried to map their position, the data contradicted itself.

  Then, without warning, the ship’s arms bred.

  "Contact detected!" Nova’s voice rang through the bridge. "Bearing 047 mark 12. Unknown vessel approaching."

  Elias’ pulse quickened. "Visual!"

  The main dispy shifted, focusing on a region of space ahead. At first, they saw nothing. Then, out of the swirling distortions, a shape emerged.

  It was massive. Not a traditional ship—at least, not one that followed any human or known alien design. Its surface was smooth, almost organic, pulsating with an eerie bioluminescence. Tendrils of energy arced across its hull, and its form seemed to shift subtly, as if it was never fully solid in one moment.

  "What the hell is that?" Lucas whispered.

  Dr. Amara Vesquez, their xenolinguist, was already scanning the energy patterns it emitted. "It’s alive... or at least, partially biological."

  "It’s scanning us," Nova reported. "I am detecting an energy signature probing our systems. Non-invasive... but deliberate."

  Aria’s fingers hovered over the defensive controls. "Commander, do we raise shields?"

  Elias hesitated. Every instinct told him that this was a first contact scenario unlike any before. Raising shields could be seen as hostile. But doing nothing could leave them vulnerable.

  "Hold position," he ordered. "Let’s see what it does."

  The alien vessel pulsed with light, shifting colours in rhythmic patterns. A nguage? A greeting? Or a warning?

  "Amara, can we transte that?" Elias asked.

  She was already working, running the patterns through the ship’s linguistic database. "It’s complex... But I think it’s a question."

  "A question?" Sienna echoed. "Like, ‘Who are you?' or ‘What do you want?’"

  Amara swallowed hard. "No. It’s asking, ‘Do you remember?’"

  A HISTORY LONG FORGOTTEN

  The words sent a chill down Elias’ spine.

  "Do we remember?" he repeated. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

  Amara was still analysing. "This isn’t just a message—it’s yered. Almost like... it’s pulling from something pre-existing. As if we should already know the answer."

  Kieran adjusted the holo-dispy, pulling up the ship’s archives. "What if it’s referring to something ancient? Something predating human exploration?"

  Nova suddenly spoke, her voice tinged with an eerie certainty. "Cross-referencing the message with known historical anomalies... Match found."

  The screen shifted, dispying a grainy image—a relic from early space exploration. A forgotten mission. A deep-space probe unched centuries ago that had vanished without a trace.

  "The Echo Project," Kieran read aloud. "A pre-FTL initiative. They sent a probe into deep space, hoping to map the unknown. It was one of humanity’s first attempts at interstelr exploration... but it disappeared."

  Lucas exhaled. "You’re saying this thing knows about a centuries-old probe? How?"

  Amara’s voice was quiet. "Because it remembers."

  Silence fell over the bridge as the alien vessel’s lights pulsed again, the message repeating.

  "Do you remember?"

  Elias tightened his grip on the console. He wasn’t sure if they were ready for the answer.

  THE NEXT STEP

  "Nova, respond," Elias finally said. "Transmit our own signal. A message: ‘We seek to understand.’"

  The ship’s communication system sent the response, a carefully crafted pulse mimicking the alien’s method of transmission. The crew held their breath.

  For a moment, nothing happened.

  Then, the alien vessel shifted. A new energy surged through its form, and the space around them trembled. A gateway—simir to The Rift they had entered—began forming ahead.

  "Commander," Nova said, "I believe they are inviting us forward."

  Aria’s voice was ced with apprehension. "You sure it’s an invitation and not a trap?"

  Elias had no way of knowing. But his gut told him this was what they had come for.

  "Sienna," he said, "take us in."

  The pilot nodded, guiding Nebu-9 toward the swirling gateway. As they passed through, space itself bent, folding around them like the pages of an unread book.

  And somewhere beyond, the echoes of an ancient past awaited.

  CHAPTER’s NOTE:This chapter is a perfect blend of mystery and tension. The crew’s growing unease, the alien vessel’s unsettling presence, and the cryptic question "Do you remember?"—everything builds the anticipation for what’s coming next. I can already feel the weight of the choices and the consequences of this first encounter with the unknown. The inclusion of the forgotten Echo Project really adds depth to the narrative, tying the crew’s journey to a long-lost piece of human history.