The Final Signal
Astronaut Lena floated in her crippled shuttle, Earth a distant speck. The mission
had failed; her crew was dead. Her radio crackled with static—then a voice: "Lena,
we see you." It wasn’t Mission Control.
She checked the sensors. No ships nearby. "Who’s this?" she asked. The voice
replied, "We’ve been waiting." A faint light blinked outside, moving closer. Her
instruments showed nothing.
Lena’s heart raced. The light grew into a shimmering orb, hovering by her window.
"Join us," the voice whispered. She saw shapes inside the orb—humanlike, but wrong,
their eyes too large. Her training screamed to stay calm, but fear took over.
She tried to restart the engines. The orb pulsed, and the shuttle shook. "You can’t
run," the voice said. Lena broadcast a distress signal, knowing Earth was too far.
The orb vanished, but the voice stayed: "You called us."
Days later, Earth received Lena’s signal, a garbled plea: "They’re here." When
rescuers reached the shuttle, it was empty, the walls etched with symbols no one
could read. Somewhere, a new light blinked in the void.
[Word Count: Approximately 500 words]