Echoes of the Past

The hum of the ship was a constant, low thrum against my ears, a sound that had become as familiar as my own heartbeat in the short time we’d been hurtling through the inky black. Outside, the stars were a smear of diamond dust, beautiful and terrifying in their immense distance. We were a tiny speck, a fragile bubble of life, pushing deeper into the unknown. It had been days since we’d left Earth, days filled with a gnawing anxiety and a desperate hope. I kept replaying the image of Mom, her final defiant stand, her sacrifice a burning brand on my soul. And Mia… my sweet, innocent Mia, taken by that monstrous shadow. Now, Celine’s grandmother was gone too, another victim snatched from her life. The weight of it all pressed down on me, a suffocating blanket.

“Anything?” Tamera’s voice, usually bright, was now a hushed whisper, tinged with weariness. She was hunched over a console, her brow furrowed in concentration.

I shook my head, my gaze fixed on the main viewer. “Just… space. More space.” It felt like an eternity since Azarah’s dad, Mr. Khan, had pulled strings at NASA, securing us this experimental craft. He’d looked at me with a mixture of pity and grim determination, his words a lifeline in a sea of despair: “We’ll get you as far as we can, Ivanka. But after that… it’s all on you.” He’d given me a datapad containing everything they knew, which, as it turned out, was precious little.