The ship hums and shudders as it changes its trajectory. A speck of light appears on the forward-most screen—an object—rapidly approaching.
Sophia looks through one of the monitors and crosses her arms. "Look at that thing. What is that?"
The ship slows down just as it approaches the target. Once it is close enough, the teenagers are able to see that it is some kind of inhabited structure. Parts of it stick out like spires, while other parts seem to have dimly lit windows. Most noticeable of all are the torn metal pieces and other debris circulating on one side of the structure, perhaps due to deterioration over a long period of time.
For a brief moment, it almost seems as though they might crash right into it, but the spaceship expertly maneuvers itself on approach into an opening that seems to open just for them.
"It seems to be a docking station of some kind," Tah-Kuell says. He stares at the screen and tries to input some commands into the terminal, but to no avail.
Once the ship enters the station, they're treated to an amazing sight: a seemingly infinite swath of pillars stretching as far as the eye can see, all as metallic and grey as the rest of the station, impossibly tall, with millions of ships docked nose first into them. Each of the ships seem to be the exact same overall design as the caveship, though from their perspective it's impossible to tell if there's any details that differentiates them from each other. Perhaps most remarkably is that there are other ships also flitting about, seeking their docks, like bees returning to the hive all within a perfectly orchaestrated chaos. Where these other ships have come from, or where they've been, is a mystery.
Left speechless, the crew can only watch as their ship guides itself toward one of the station's seemingly unlimited pillars of asphalt grey, which opens up to greet them. Did their craft know exactly where it had to dock, that it had a designation? Or was it simply choosing one at random? The craft hums and shudders again as it prepares to slow down.
The inside of their dock is the same color as the rest of the station, but with almost marble-like floors to contrast everything else. The lights, though there's no obvious place they might be, are dimmed. Unlike other stations they'd arrived at during their journey, no-one comes out to greet them. There are no dock workers or cargo or anything that might imply that this is a temporary docking, but once the craft has fully settled in, the stairs leading out of the ship's cockpit appear seemingly of their own volition. All of the exits on the ship, unknown to the teenagers until now, slide open allowing them to have a direct view of the outside.
Nicholas stands up and cautiously moves over toward the stairs, peering down to the platform below, as if expecting to see someone, or something. Only the marble-like flooring meets his gaze. Leading the way, he motions toward the rest of the group to follow along, climbing down the ship's stairs and setting foot on the docking platform. Almost exactly the moment he does, the platform's outer edges light up in reaction to his presence, and the omnitool on his wrist begins to undulate and shimmer.
Soon joined by the others, who look out at the area, Nicholas takes note of the quiet crew's own omnitools, which all begin to act strangely as well.
"Interesting. Your omnitools are reacting to this place. And this technology seems fairly similar to the conduit. This may well be where they were created," Tah-Kuell explains in his intrigue, rubbing his hands together. "If the conduit required so much power to get us here, perhaps if we explore further, we'll receive some answers. To think, my people have been searching for the reason the Makers disappeared, and after all this time, I might get to learn why."
"Great," Sarah responds, her gaze looking over what little the dock has to offer.
Tah-Kuell seems to consider their predicament, before he lights up. "I recall hearing that, before their disappearance, the Makers were focusing on technology that allowed them to teleport about their structures so as to remove the prospect of doors. It made quarantine and isolating damaged sections of ships easier, or so it was said." He steps past the others, closer toward the center of the dock. "If this station utilizes that sort of technology, then we should not be looking for doors, but their transporters. Though I'm not sure how we could find or even activate such things."
"Maybe it responds to need, like the ship does," Darius suggests, moving to join Tah-Kuell, with the others not far behind. "Let's just go on ahead. We need to find out why we're here. And perhaps some food. Food would be nice."
"Maybe this place has like a command center or something," Sophia interjects, holding up her arm so she can speak into it. "Hey, omnitool, we need to go to the main command center." After a few long moments of nothing happening, she gives up. "Great. It doesn't work."
"Try saying something to it that stems from need," Tah-Kuell says. "You know, like when you need it to defend yourself."
Sophia raises an eyebrow and tries to think. She looks at her omnitool. "I..." She stops, looking at the others, considering her words. "We...want to go home. If there's anything in this place that can help us get back there, please, show us the way."
From the edges of the dock, underneath the marble-like floor, crystal blue energy surges through until it gets beneath their feet. Without any sound or warning, their surroundings shift as if it had all been part of an illusion. Now they gaze and look at the new chamber around them, a library of sorts, but where a library might have bookshelves full of books, enormous white pillars rise from the floor up several stories high before disappearing into the ceiling. In between them, crystalline shapes beckon toward the group as if they were organic and alive. They are constantly changing shapes, rotating in a uniform circular motion before resting beside the pillars and giving off a gentle glow.
A sudden shriek from Sarah gets everyone immediately on edge, turning to face a potential threat, but the girl backs away from what seems like skeletons in spacesuits huddled on the ground against one of the nearby pillars.
"Oh my God," Ava begins, moving in closer with a notably morbid curiosity. "What happened to them?"
Tah-Kuell joins Ava in investigating, kneeling down close. "These look like Praeryndori skeletons. You can tell because their bone structure is thin, light, and notably hollow." He reaches out and plucks a single, small bone from the pile, and easily snaps it in half. "I wonder if these Praeryndori were like us. Traveled here along with their ship, probably ran out of food..."
"Scared me half to death," Sarah frowns, rubbing her arms with her hands, as if suddenly beset with the chill of her own fragile mortality. "I really hope we don't wind up like them."
"Nor do I. What good is knowledge of the Makers if you die acquiring it?" Tah-Kuell frowns, turning away from the skeletons of another unwilling crew, and walking over toward one of the crystalline structures. "Now, I'm not an expert in Maker technology, but if it's anything like how they designed the ship..." One of the crystalline objects slowly descends to meet his eye level. Once it does, Tah-Kuell motions toward Nicholas. "Come here. I don't think I'll be able to access this sort of technology, but I have a suspicion that anyone with an omnitool should be able to."
Upon approach, the crystals react to Nicholas, and they light up a pure white. From the energy pulsing through the structure, a tiny glowing orb forms almost like a bubble and shoots out into the air. For a moment it hovers over the group, before flitting back over the structure. It changes shape and size and flitters with small bursts of energy radiating from it, almost like a spark. "Hello." says the spark, shimmering as it does. "What do you seek here?" Though it doesn't make actual noise, the group can hear the echo of it within their minds, not feminine, though not masculine either. Only Tah-Kuell seems completely fine with what's happening.
"It's like when the Mowaii were speaking with us," Sophia groans, rubbing her temples. "So weird."
Ignoring Sophia's plight, Nicholas gets closer to the spark and lifts a hand up to get its attention. "Hello there. I'm Nicholas. We're just looking for—"
"I know who you are," the spark interrupts him. "Nicholas Mason. From Aberdeen, Washington. Eighteen in Earth years. Introductions are not necessary. I am aware of who all of you are. After all, a fraction of the ship has come with you aboard this station."
A bit taken aback by that, Nicholas looks over at Tah-Kuell, who shakes his head in confusion. He turns back around to face the spark. "Okay, well, we were hoping you could help us? We're lost, you see. If you could help us get back to our home planet, we would appreciate it greatly."
The spark seems to shimmer in response to the inquiry before disappearing into the crystal structure. Suddenly all of the crystals around them begin to glow brighter until an expansion of white light covers the entire room. After a few moments, the lights begin to fade, giving way to a new environment, one that shows them the universe as it was a long time ago. The room darkens. A holographic projection of sorts floats in the center. Circular orbits of many planetary bodies are shown as defined by glowing blue lines around them. The teenagers stare at it as the spark's voice speaks.
"Several billion years ago, the Makers evolved from a simple, humanoid species, much like your own." Their surroundings shift again. This time their new environment takes them to a region of space filled with numerous ships not unlike the one they had been traveling on until now. Multiple caveships orbiting countless planets and moons in a distant nebula.
"While not skilled in the art of war, the Makers were hailed as master orators, negotiators, and merchants. Much of their profit was poured into their own seemingly infinite pursuit of knowledge. This pursuit gave them the means to advance far beyond the plights of common species. Although, in their benevolence, they often put others before themselves."
Again, the scene shifts to focus on the universe at large, almost like a map, which spins slowly. A million spheres of varying colors hover over the group, what appear to be stars across thousands of light-years. Their shapes are translucent almost like holograms but the group is able to hold them with their hands and analyze them.
"Soon after exploring most of their region of space, the Makers learned of a cataclysm that threatened biological life everywhere, one that would wipe out entire civilizations before moving on." As if to accentuate this, the brilliant white stars of galaxies begin to bleed red, spreading slowly inward until all of the dots and spheres hovering around them turn a dark maroon. "The Makers and their allies fought brilliantly to stop this threat from reaching their worlds, but ultimately, they were unsuccessful. A league of seven races was formed but not even their greatest weapon was able to defeat their enemy. Once the alliance fell, the Makers were forced to retreat to defend what little life was left."
The hologram shows the Makers spreading out over the rest of the uninfected galaxies. Several large dots float out in what appear to be ships beyond the edge of the universe, into the darkness, and settle there in floating structures, much like the station they are currently on.
"The Makers became scattered and their once mighty empire collapsed. Their plan to stop the threat to biological life had failed. However, the survivors came up with a new plan. If they could not save the universe, perhaps they could repopulate it once the cataclysm had moved on. The Makers were capable of taking lifeless worlds and turning them into prosperous living ecosystems. Fitting their ships with this technology, and utilizing their impressive fleets, the few remaining Makers scattered the seeds of life out into the universe."
From the dots of light at the fringes of the map still visible to them, a seemingly endless flow of smaller dots spread out quickly across the map, indicating how the Makers had sent their ships back to normal space. "When the cataclysm finally passed, these ships automatically began to terraform planets in the hopes of creating intelligent biological life once again." Each star, indicated by a glowing sphere, begins to turn bright green as opposed to the earlier creeping red, before the entire virtual experience fades away, leaving only the spark from earlier settled where the center of the map had been.
"This was the gift of the Makers. Their final act of benevolence. Life could once again emerge."
"Whoa," Darius says, blinking twice to get his focus back
Tah-Kuell shakes himself out of it. "What of them now? Where are they?"
The spark floats for a moment before it responds: "The Makers disappeared beyond the void. They have yet to return."
"How is that possible?" Tah-Kuell says with a frown. "What could they have possibly thought they'd find there?"
Sophia stays quiet for a moment as she mulls over this new information. She crosses her arms and looks at the others. "Eerie."
"So, if I'm understanding this correctly," Sarah says, stepping forward. "The caveships were terraforming ships?"
"Yes," the spark says. "Programmable vessels containing genetic seeds."
"But we found it on Earth," Darius says, confused. "Why was it there?"
The group turn toward the spark, but it simply hovers in silence.
"It made Earth habitable," Nicholas says, finally realizing it himself. He crosses his arms and looks at the others. "The Caveship was probably sent to Earth and then it stayed dormant for who knows how long. That's why it was inside that cave. We woke it up."
The group stays quiet after this. For a moment, they just process this new information as the spark changes shapes and colors in front of them. Finally, Ava sighs and looks at Nicholas, "Alright, that's great, but can this thing help us get back home or what?"
"Right." Nicholas turns to the spark. "Can you help us get back to our planet? We don't exactly know how to go back there. We were hoping you knew how to get us there using our ship."
The spark floats back to its tetrahedron crystal, where it flashes red. The rest of the pillar also glows the same color. "No," says the voice of the spark.
Darius's eyebrows furrow in his anger. "What?"
Ava sighs and shakes her head. "Okay, I'm tired of listening to this weird crystal thing. There has to be some way off this stupid station. Maybe we can board another ship or something. Let's go."
"We came here all this way for nothing?" Darius growls in anger. "What was the point of showing us all that?"
Nicholas shakes his head. "Relax guys. We'll figure something out."
"How?" Sarah jumps in. "This is pretty much our last stop, isn't it? The ship isn't going to take us anywhere else. We're screwed if this thing can't help us. We'll starve just like those Praeryndori."
"Children, your frustration and anger is understandable, but if you wish to leave, you have to prove you are worthy," the spark responds.
"Worthy?" Sophia says, frowning. "What do you mean?"
"Many have tried." The spark hovers over the skeletons of the Praeryndori they'd discovered not long ago. "Many travelers who find themselves aboard the terraforming vessels end up here. In exchange, they must prove that they are worthy of leaving with the knowledge given to them."
Sarah, just as frustrated as Darius, speaks up now. "So if we aren't "worthy" then we just get to—to stand here and starve?!"
"None of them are alive anymore. It's not often we get visitors," the spark explains. "You are the first to arrive here in several million years."
"Wait a minute," Tah-Kuell lifts a finger to try to get the spark's attention. "Why would you let this happen? The Makers and their pursuit of knowledge was infinite, unending. Everything they did was to learn more about things, about the universe. Surely you were programmed to keep information updated and not be wasteful."
Catching on to what Tah-Kuell's saying, Nicholas nods, moving to stand beside him. "Right. What if the Makers return, and discovered that you had all these opportunities to learn about us and you just threw it all away! Don't you think they'd be disappointed? There's so much you don't know about what's going on out there now. You need us."
The spark floats there quietly. For the first time since its appearance, it shimmers in multiple colors and patterns, perhaps the best way one might describe a visible thought process from a being of pure energy. Finally, after a few minutes, the spark returns to its normal white color. "Your pleas have been heard and I have decided that there will be an exception in this case, for the benefit of my masters upon their return. You will be allowed to leave and return to your planet."
The group burst in excitement, moving in closer to Nicholas and Tah-Kuell for a huddle.
"However," the spark interrupts their celebration. "There is one condition."
The group gets quiet again; their gazes focused on the crystal orb.
"You must all return, as you are now, periodically to merge your knowledge with my databanks. So as to keep information up to date about the current state of affairs in the universe."
"How do we do that, exactly?" Ava says. "I mean, we don't exactly have a way to travel this far. We don't have ships where we come from."
The spark floats up and down and its color shifts again. "The vessel that brought you here will be returned to you. From this day forward, you will travel with full control of it. You will choose where it travels. Consider this a gift. As before, you will bring a small fraction of the Makers' consciousness with you, but this time, you'll be able to communicate with it. It will be a helpful guide. Use it to your advantage. Farewell, children. May we see each other again soon."
With that, a surge of blue energy floods the platform until it is beneath their feet. Their surroundings shift once more, sending them back to the docking platform from before. Though, it's probably impossible to tell if it's the same dock since they're all almost alike. Having been returned to the location with the Caveship, the group starts to climb aboard, excited at the prospect of leaving, even if they do have to return eventually to abide by the spark's rules.
Stepping up behind them, the stairs disappear as Nicholas boards, looking about to make sure everyone's there. While the outside of the ship made it a mystery what craft they were on, what little they had made of a life in the cockpit (their bedrolls and containers full of snacks and other items) helps them realize that this is, indeed, the ship they'd arrived on. Settling into their chairs, Nicholas rubs his hands together. "Alright, let's get out of here."
Darius sits near a terminal, as does the rest of the group. "Okay. How do we leave? We have full control now, right?"
Almost as if on cue, the ship's engines rev-up with a roar, bringing the craft back to life. The caveship pulls away from its dock and simply hovers there, waiting for some kind of input. "Yeah, now we just need to figure out how to do that. Uh, how can we plot a course back home?" Nicholas turns to their grey alien friend, who is busy mulling things over.
"Hmm," Tah-Kuell sits down near a console and pulls up a map on screen, trying to see if the ship will react to his inputs. With the help of the terminal, he begins to plot a course, something he wasn't able to do before. "Assuming that by leaving this station we get that same slingshot back to where we were, we should be good to go. We can arrive on Earth in a couple of weeks with minimal stops."
Almost the exact moment Tah-Kuell enters in their coordinates, the screen changes. Before he can voice his surprise, a tiny spark appears from the console in front of him and flits through the air. "I've charted a more efficient path, sir," it says in a male voice. It zips around the room until stopping right above Sophia.
"Whoa! That must be that thing that's suppose to come with us," Sophia leans forward to try to get a better angle on the tiny thing. "Looks like a little firefly."
Nicholas smiles, feeling the first bit of hope in a while now that the prospect of going home is finally within their grasp.
"Interesting," Tah-Kuell mutters as he observes the little spark dance around the cockpit. "It seems cognizant. I guess it could be useful if it knows the ship's systems."
Sarah takes a seat next to Darius in the back and crosses her arms. "All right. Well, if we're all in agreement, and the coordinates are set, then what're we waiting for? Let's go home."
"Finally," Ava sighs wistfully. "I'm so over this."
Tah-Kuell nods. "I'm eager to see what your homeworld is like. We do have to make a few stops to refuel the ship. Let's not forget about that. Without fuel, we won't make it far."
Out in space, the ship is only a small dot compared to the massive space station and just another object of many flying around trying to find a dock. As they depart, the station opens up a gateway in the shape of a tunnel for them to leave. Tah-Kuell uses the terminal to guide the ship through the opening just before the station begins crackling with electricity. Like the conduit before it, the colossal construction produces a sheet of energy that wraps around the entire ship like a flame, enhancing its capabilities momentarily and sending it screaming back toward the Milky Way. It's not until stars begin to streak past them once more that Nicholas speaks up again.
"I just want to say that this trip has been the wildest thing ever. Even though we've nearly died multiple times, I'd be lying if I said it hasn't been exciting. It's been a while since our parents have heard anything from us and I think once we return to Earth, we'll have plenty of time to tell them what really transpired and where we've been all this time. Some of us started out as friends, others as strangers, but I'm glad that we at least got through it together. " Having spun around from his chair to look at the group while he says this, Nicholas smirks, then continues. "To me, you're all like family now and I hope whatever happens after we reach Earth, we'll keep in touch. After these past few months, I don't know what I'd do without you guys."
Sarah smiles at the gesture. So does Darius.
"This has been a fruitful experience," Tah-Kuell says, turning his chair to face the others. "I am glad I chose to depart Ziron when I did. I have learned much about your people from you. Humans are...an interesting species. Your race has a lot of potential."
Sophia giggles at the commentary. "Well, thank you, Mr. Spock."
"So how many stops are there? Before we get to Earth?" Ava asks.
"A handful. Don't worry, we should arrive to your world fairly soon," Tah-Kuell answers.
Darius nods. "What's our first stop?"
Tah-Kuell taps at the console in front of him to bring it into view. "Xarmir. It's home to an underwater species. They're largely antagonistic to Council races, but not to worry, I think we can find a place to arrive undetected, set up camp on dry ground, and be gone before they even realize we've arrived."
Sophia looks up at the ceiling, noticing the map above them updating itself with their new trajectory.
"It's not like we're completely unprepared for a fight or anything. We have the omnitools and our suits. We can defend ourselves. I'm feeling good about this," says Nicholas.
The teenagers look at each other with bright smiles. For the first time in a long while, there is a general sense of optimism.
Entering normal space again, the Caveship immediately uses its thrusters to turn a few degrees to face a particular cluster of stars. The engines trigger a hyperspatial jump that engulfs the entire spacecraft in a coat of blue energy, catapulting the ship a great distance. In its wake, the vast emptiness of space is left behind, dark and quiet.
A single Ophio scout ship finds its way into this quiet region of space, darting about before its much larger parent fleet overshadows it, moving silently, and deeper, into the Milky Way.