"The Black Rift"


The Aurora Hawk hung motionless in space, staring into the abyss. Before them was no ordinary void—this was the Black Rift, a swirling tear in reality that devoured light itself.


“Scans are inconclusive,” Sophia muttered, tapping her wrist console. “No gravity signature, no radiation… just nothing. It’s like space itself is broken.”


Kyle leaned back in his chair, frowning. “We should turn around. Things that look like this usually eat ships for breakfast.”


Hiede glanced up from her med-station. “We can’t. That distress signal came from inside.”


Leonardo Duremdes stood at the helm, his expression calm but sharp. “If there’s even a chance someone’s alive in there, we’re going in.”


Cristina crossed her arms, staring at the swirling anomaly. “You realize no ship has ever come back from the Rift, right?”


Leonardo smiled faintly. “Then we’ll be the first.”



---


As they prepared for entry, Mira, the ship’s AI, spoke up.

“Captain, I’ve detected two life signatures inside the Rift. Their IDs match missing explorers: Silen Reddick and Commander Margison. Both presumed dead… for 20 years.”


Kyle blinked. “Twenty years? That’s impossible.”


“Or,” Sophia said quietly, “time inside the Rift doesn’t work like it does out here.”


Leonardo’s jaw tightened. “Strap in. We’re going.”


The Aurora Hawk plunged forward.



---


The moment they crossed the event threshold, everything changed. The stars vanished. Space became a warped ocean of fractured reflections—ships frozen mid-explosion, planets twisted into endless spirals.


“This is… wrong,” Hiede whispered, clutching her seat.


Suddenly, a voice crackled over comms:


“—Help… this is Silen… please, if anyone can hear me…”


Leonardo replied instantly. “Silen Reddick, this is Captain Leonardo Duremdes of the Aurora Hawk. Hold on—we’re coming for you.”


No response, only static and an eerie echo, as if the Rift itself repeated Silen’s words.


Cristina adjusted the scanners. “Signal’s bouncing all over the place. It’s like there are… multiple versions of him.”


Kyle groaned. “Great. Time ghosts. Just what I needed today.”



---


They found the source: a derelict ship caught in a shimmering web of distorted space. Its hull bore the name Eidolon, an exploration vessel lost two decades ago.


Leonardo and Kyle suited up, while Sophia linked Mira into the ship’s systems for emergency retrieval. Hiede prepped the med-bay, and Cristina plotted escape vectors in case the Rift collapsed.


The boarding was tense. Inside the Eidolon, gravity flickered. Hallways twisted impossibly, like they were folding in on themselves. Then, from the darkness, a man stumbled forward—hair white, face gaunt, but alive.


“Silen,” Leonardo said, helping him stand.


Silen stared at him, disbelief in his eyes. “You… you’re real? I’ve been here… I don’t know how long. Days. Years. It’s all the same.”


Kyle’s gaze swept the room. “Where’s Margison?”


Silen’s face darkened. “He… changed. The Rift got to him.”


As if summoned by his words, a deep metallic growl echoed through the ship. Then came the sound of heavy footsteps.


From the shadows emerged Margison, or what was left of him. His body was fused with Rift energy, his form shifting like broken glass. His eyes glowed an unnatural violet.


“You shouldn’t have come,” Margison’s voice boomed, layered with echoes. “No one leaves the Rift.”



---


Kyle raised his rifle. “I’ll take the monster.”


Leonardo stopped him. “No. He’s not just a monster. He’s trapped.”


Sophia’s voice came through the comm. “Leo, I’m reading insane energy spikes. If that thing destabilizes the Rift any further, we’re all dead!”


Leonardo stepped forward anyway. “Margison, listen to me. You don’t have to stay here.”


For a moment, the creature hesitated, as if the man he once was fought through. But then the Rift energy pulsed violently, and Margison lunged.


Kyle fired a stun round, buying Leonardo seconds. He grabbed Silen and shouted: “Mira! Lock onto our signals!”


“Engaging transport sequence!”


In a flash of light, they were pulled back to the Aurora Hawk. The ship shook violently as Margison’s roar echoed behind them, the Rift collapsing inward.



---


Back aboard, Silen gasped for breath, clinging to Hiede as she stabilized him.


Cristina glanced at the Rift shrinking on the screen. “That thing… that was Margison?”


Silen nodded weakly. “He… he wanted to keep us safe. But the Rift twisted him. He couldn’t escape.”


Leonardo stared at the fading anomaly. For a moment, he thought he saw a figure—Margison—standing at the edge of the Rift, saluting before vanishing into the dark.


“Captain,” Mira said softly, “the Rift is closing.”


Leonardo gave one last nod. “Then let it close. No one else should be lost in there.”


Kyle leaned against the bulkhead, shaking his head. “We went into a nightmare and came out alive. Barely.”


Sophia smirked. “And you doubted him.”


Leonardo smiled faintly. “We saved one today. That’s enough.”


Silen looked up at him, gratitude in his weary eyes. “I thought I’d never see the stars again. Thank you, Captain.”


Leonardo placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “You’re free now, Silen. And as long as we’re out here, no one gets left behind.”


The Aurora Hawk turned from the dying Rift and leapt into hyperspace, carrying the crew, Silen, and the memory of a man who chose to stay behind so others could live.


And Leonardo Duremdes, the Starlight Courier, prepared for the next call.