The docking bay was alive with organised chaos as Davidson coordinated the small fleet's departure from the Trexlor Show. Supply manifests, delivery schedules, and maintenance checks. Davidson moved through it all with military efficiency, tablet in hand, issuing crisp orders to his crew.
Tanya watched from across the bay, her stomach tight with nerves. The coordinates felt like they were burning through her pocket, the grandmother's cryptic gift demanding attention she couldn't ignore.
She'd made her decision the day before, standing in her cabin staring at those numbers. Davidson would never approve. He'd cite security concerns, unknown variables, unnecessary risks to valuable personnel. He'd be right, technically. And she'd do it anyway.
Forgiveness, she'd learned, was sometimes easier to obtain than permission.
"You're sure about this?" Cameron asked quietly beside her. They stood near the Explorer Two's berth, pretending to review system diagnostics.
"No," Tanya admitted. "But I'm doing it anyway."
She'd approached them yesterday after the recruitment lunch, catching them alone in the cruiser's observation deck. The pitch had been simple: she had coordinates to something important, something the grandmother had pointed her toward. She needed experienced explorers willing to trust her judgment.
Cameron had agreed immediately, drawn by the mystery. Janet had taken longer, weighing risks against rewards, but her explorer's instinct had won out. Neither had pressed for details. Didn't want to risk a chance of a leak.
"Test flight logged with station control," Janet reported, joining them with her own tablet. "Told them we're running post-show diagnostics on the Explorer Two's systems. Four-hour window before anyone expects us back."
"Four hours should be enough," Tanya said, hoping she was right.
Davidson glanced their way, and Tanya forced herself to look casual. He nodded acknowledgment before returning to his logistics coordination. The main fleet wouldn't be ready to depart for another six hours which was plenty of time for Davidson to discover their absence and the note she'd left.
The note had taken three drafts to get right:
Captain Davidson,
I've followed coordinates provided by the grandmother. I couldn't ask permission as we both know you'd refuse. Cameron and Janet are with me. We'll be back at Eden-Five before you finish the deliveries. I'm sorry for the deception, but some questions demand answers even when asking permission would prevent them.
—Tanya
Not her best work, but it would have to do.
"Systems check complete," Cameron announced. "We're ready when you are."
Tanya took a breath. "Let's go."
They boarded quickly, stowing minimal supplies while maintaining the appearance of a routine test flight. The Explorer Two's engines came to life, and Janet guided the ship through the departure sequence with hands that only shook slightly.
Station control cleared them without questions. Why wouldn't they? Just another ship running post-event diagnostics, nothing unusual.
The docking bay doors opened to reveal the star-scattered void beyond. Janet engaged thrusters, and the Explorer Two slipped free of the cruiser's embrace. They quickly entered the vortex.
"Coordinates laid in," Cameron said from navigation. "It should take 48 hours to get there, but we will need Sage's help to navigate, as there is no beacon in that area of vortex space."
Forty-eight hours in a ship designed for exploration, not comfort. Tanya had experienced the cramped conditions before, so she wasn't that worried.
"Let's—" she started, then froze as movement caught her eye in the rear cabin.
Amara emerged from behind a storage compartment, tablet in hand, expression unreadable.
"Did you really think," she said calmly, "that you could sneak away without me noticing?"
Janet cursed. Cameron's hands froze over his console. Tanya felt her heart trying to escape through her throat.
"How—when—" Tanya stammered.
"I've been tracking your stress patterns since the prince's meeting." Amara settled into the spare seat with practised ease. "You got coordinates from someone, decided to investigate alone, recruited Cameron and Janet but not me, and planned this dramatic escape during Davidson's busiest window. Really, Tanya, I expected better from you."
The cabin felt suddenly smaller. Tanya's carefully laid plans evaporated under Amara's knowing gaze.
"You're supposed to be helping with the logistics," Tanya tried weakly.
"I delegated. Red knows what he's doing." Amara crossed her arms. "Now, where exactly are we going, and why did you think keeping it from me was a good idea?"
Tanya exchanged glances with Cameron and Janet. Both looked as caught as she felt.
"The grandmother gave me coordinates," Tanya admitted. "After my presentation. I don't know what's there, but Prince Archibald warned me she operates at levels above Imperial authority. Whatever she pointed me toward, it's important."
"Important enough to risk three people without proper backup or authorisation?" Amara's tone sharpened. "Important enough to abandon security protocols we established for exactly this kind of situation?"
"I left Davidson a note—"
"A note." Amara's laugh held no humor. "That will be very comforting when we disappear into unknown space with no support, no rescue plan, and no one knowing our actual destination."
The rebuke stung because it was accurate. Tanya had been so focused on avoiding Davidson's refusal that she'd ignored the legitimate safety concerns.
"You're right," she said quietly. "I should have told you. Should have planned this properly. But I'm going anyway. The grandmother knew about Sage, knew how to leave coordinates in a format that only gardeners can decode. Whatever's at those numbers, it connects to things bigger than corporate warfare or trade show politics."
"Lost technologies," Cameron added. "The prince mentioned them. Humanity used to be more advanced." Tanya had debriefed both of them about what had happened at the meeting with the prince.
"And you think following mysterious coordinates from a woman who scares the Emperor is the safe way to investigate that?" Amara countered.
"I think safe stopped being an option the moment I bonded with Sage," Tanya said. "We're already caught in something we don't understand. At least this way we're moving forward instead of waiting for next rejection."
Silence filled the cabin. Janet watched the exchange with obvious interest, her explorer's instincts clearly engaged. Cameron ran calculations on his console, probably determining whether they could still turn back.
Finally, Amara sighed. "You're going anyway, aren't you? Even if I demand we return."
"Yes."
"Stubborn farm-girl determination combined with hyper curiosity." Amara shook her head. "Fine. But we do this intelligently. Constant communication protocols, we send coordinates back to Davidson, and at the first sign of actual danger, we retreat. Agreed?"
"Agreed," Tanya said, relief flooding through her.
"Cameron, send a data packet to Red," Amara instructed. "Encrypted channel. Our actual destination and timeline. If we don't report back in seventy-two hours, he knows where to look."
"Smart," Janet approved. "Always leave breadcrumbs."
Tanya didn't say it, but she knew even if there was trouble, they had no way of navigating to coordinates.
The Explorer Two settled into its course. The cabin's cramped quarters would be their home for the next two days. four people, minimal space, and growing tension as they travelled toward an unknown destination.
//You could have told her,// Sage observed quietly. //Deception rarely improves outcomes with trusted allies.//
I know, Tanya thought back. I'm still learning how to balance independence with team leadership.
//The lesson appears to be: you cannot do both simultaneously when they conflict. Choose your battles more carefully.//
The first day crawled by in the peculiar timelessness of vortex travel. The Explorer Two wasn't built for passenger comfort as every surface served a function, and personal space was a luxury they couldn't afford. It was built for getting to and from the location.
Janet claimed the navigation console, running endless diagnostics and muttering about sensor calibrations. Cameron worked maintenance rotations, checking systems that probably didn't need checking just to stay occupied. Amara commandeered the small table, tablet displaying spreadsheets and reports she somehow still needed to review.
Tanya divided her time between the pilot's seat, correcting their course using Sage and restless pacing in the few meters of open floor space.
"You're going to wear a groove in the deck plating," Janet observed during hour sixteen.
"Need to move," Tanya replied, too wired to sit still.
"Try sleeping," Amara suggested without looking up from her work. "We'll need you functional when we arrive."
Sleep seemed impossible, but Tanya tried anyway, curling up in one of the fold-down bunks that barely qualified as beds. The ship's noise and the occasional conversation from the others eventually pulled her under.
The time seemed to repeat itself. Cramped meals from ration packs that all tasted vaguely the same. Conversation that ranged from technical discussions to childhood stories to long stretches of comfortable silence.
"Tell me about growing up on exploration ships," Tanya said during hour thirty-two, trying to distract herself from mounting anticipation.
Janet smiled. "Imagine never having a permanent home. Every few months, new star system, new discoveries, new challenges. Our parents would drag us to unmapped asteroid fields and ancient ruins while other kids were learning in proper classrooms."
"Sounds amazing."
"It was." Janet's expression softened with memory. "Cameron and I learned navigation by plotting actual courses, not simulations. Learned geology by analysing alien rock formations firsthand. Our playground was half the known galaxy."
"Is that why you're both so comfortable with risks?" Tanya asked.
"Probably. When you grow up watching your parents chart unknown systems, normal dangers seem manageable." She gestured at the viewport showing vortex space's swirling energies. "This? This is just another Tuesday for us."
Day two brought increased tension. They were close now, approaching coordinates that might reveal answers or might lead to nothing at all.
"Sensor sweep," Amara called out regularly. "Anything unusual?"
"Empty space," Cameron reported each time. "Nothing interesting."
Until hour forty-six.
"Wait," Cameron said, leaning toward his console. "I'm getting... something. Faint, but definitely there."
Everyone crowded around navigation. The display showed empty space, but Cameron highlighted subtle anomalies in the background readings.
"Mass shadow," he explained. "Something large enough to register on gravitational sensors but not appearing on normal scans."
"rogue planet?" Janet suggested.
"Could be or maybe something else," Amara said. "How large?"
Cameron ran calculations. "If the readings are accurate...small. Capital ship class, maybe slightly bigger."
Tanya felt her pulse quicken. "Sage says he got the location, I'll take over"
Then the ship dropped out of vortex space, and reality stabilised around them.
Empty space greeted them. Stars scattered in familiar patterns, distant nebulas painting color across the void. Nothing unusual.
"Coordinates confirmed," Cameron said. "We're exactly where the grandmother pointed us. But I'm not seeing—"
"Wait," Janet interrupted. "Look over there." She pressed a few buttons on the main screen.
The main viewport shifted, focusing on what appeared to be empty space. But as the image resolution increased, darkness resolved into something solid. Something massive.
A ship.
Not a ship like the Explorer Two or even Davidson's cruiser. A derelict hulk that dwarfed anything but a capital ship, stretching kilometers in length. Its hull was scarred by what looked like centuries of micrometeorite impacts, sections collapsed or torn away by some ancient violence.
But the architecture was what made Tanya's breath catch. The design philosophy was completely foreign to anything she'd ever seen. Not Imperial, not Republic, not Collective. Something older. It was clearly human. But seemed different to any ship she had seen in textbooks.
"My God," Amara whispered.
Something that shouldn't exist in human-explored space.
Cameron was already running analysis. "Hull composition unknown. Power signature... there's something still active in there, but minimal. Design aesthetics don't match any database entries. Estimated age..." He paused. "Computer says at least 300 years. Possibly older."
"The grandmother led us to this," Tanya said. "She knew it was here."
Janet stared at the derelict with obvious awe. "We need to board it. We need to see what's inside."
"That's insane," Amara protested. "We don't know if it's stable, if there's atmosphere, if there's anything dangerous waiting. We should report this to Davidson and get some backup here."
"Who would immediately classify it and lock it away," Tanya countered. "The grandmother gave me those coordinates for a reason. She wanted me to find this."
She studied the derelict, its ancient bulk floating in the void. Lost technologies, Prince Archibald had mentioned. Humanity had been more advanced once, during the Expansion Wars, before knowledge was deliberately suppressed.
This ship predated that. Whatever secrets it held could be exactly what the Emperor's brother feared or exactly what the grandmother thought Tanya needed to find.
//The structure's age and preservation suggest deliberate protection,// Sage observed. //This is not random debris. Someone ensured it would survive.//
"We came all this way," Tanya said. "We're not turning back without answers."
She checked the Explorer Two's docking systems, then looked at her crew. Cameron showed nervous excitement. Janet's explorer instincts were clearly engaged. Amara looked resigned to the inevitable.
"Safety protocols," Amara insisted. "Suits, tethers, constant communication. Like I said earlier at the first sign of danger, we retreat."
"Agreed." Tanya began the approach sequence, guiding the Explorer Two toward the derelict's massive bulk.
Their small ship drifted closer, dwarfed by the ancient hulk. Shadows deepened as they passed into the derelict's eclipse, starlight blocked by kilometers of scarred metal.
A docking port or something that might serve as one loomed ahead. Janet matched velocity with practiced precision, and the Explorer Two's magnetic clamps engaged with a solid thunk that resonated through the hull.
"Seal confirmed," Cameron reported. "Atmospheric sensors show... nothing. Hard vacuum on the other side."
"Suits then." Janet was already moving toward the equipment locker.
They suited up in practiced silence, checking seals and power levels. Tanya felt her heart hammering as they prepared to step into something that had been dead for millennia.
The airlock cycled. The inner door opened to reveal darkness beyond.
Tanya activated her helmet lights, the beam cutting through absolute blackness to illuminate ancient corridors that had been sealed since before human civilisation reached the stars.
"Let's find out what she wanted us to see," Tanya said, and stepped into the unknown.