The Artemis IV cut through the void, its engines glowing faintly with alien light. Earth dwindled behind them, Mars a distant ember ahead. Between the two, only silence stretched—a silence too heavy, too watchful.
Marquez sat hunched over the navigation panel, eyes fixed on drifting telemetry. "Course locked. Estimated arrival in twenty-seven hours at current speed."
Okafor shook his head. "If the anomalies persist, we'll never make it straight. We'll need course corrections—maybe detours."
Hayes loomed behind them, his presence sharp as a blade. "We're not detouring. Every second we delay gives whatever's out there more time to catch us."
Daniel sat in the co-pilot's seat, gaze unfocused. The crystal pulsed in his chest, faint but restless, as though it, too, sensed the shadows. He hadn't told the others what he'd seen in his vision—the vast predators drifting in the void. Some truths only bred panic.
---
The First Disturbance
Hours passed. The hum of engines was constant, hypnotic. Then—screens flickered. Gravity readings spiked and dipped.
Okafor cursed. "Another distortion. It's right on our trajectory."
Through the viewport, stars rippled as though warped by heat. For an instant, the void bulged, as if something massive slid just beneath the skin of reality.
Then—darkness. A shape, impossible to measure, blotting out constellations. Silent. Watching.
Marquez whispered, "It's following us."
Hayes's jaw tightened. "Ignore it. Stay on course. We flinch, we're dead."
---
Inside the Ship
The crew avoided sleep. Every corridor echoed too loudly, every panel hummed too strangely. Daniel felt the crystal's rhythm bleeding into the ship's systems, syncing with its pulse.
In the dim hours, Marquez approached him, voice low. "It's not just powering us, is it? The crystal. It's calling them."
Daniel couldn't deny it. His voice was hollow. "It's a beacon. They're not chasing us—they're answering."
Marquez's face paled. "Then we're leading them to Mars."
---
The Silent Pursuit
By the twelfth hour, the shadows grew bolder. They didn't vanish as quickly. Vast silhouettes slid alongside their course, far but undeniable. No engines, no signals—just presence.
Okafor's hands shook over the controls. "Captain, if they wanted to attack, they would've by now. Why aren't they?"
Hayes didn't blink. "Because they're waiting. Testing. Just like the crystal."
Silence pressed heavy. The hum of the Artemis merged with Daniel's heartbeat, each pulse louder than the last.
Mars gleamed closer in the distance. But between them and salvation, the shadows lingered, circling unseen, patient as predators.
And Daniel knew: the real descent hadn't begun on Earth. It had begun here, in the void—where they were no longer alone.