2. A guiding beacon

A signal is detected. Where will it lead them, and what will they find?

"Check." Prophet moved one of his bishops and took out Acc's last knight, aligning perfectly to threaten his king.

"Again? Come on!" Acc was getting annoyed. This was the fourth time his king was in danger, but now he couldn't see a way out of it.

"Fine, I give up. But I'm gonna win the next one!" Acc crossed his arms and pouted in a childish manner.

"Sure you are," Prophet snickered, "just like you were going to win the last seven games."

"Oh, shut up!" Acc was about to throw a chess piece at Prophet when Madden walked into the common room. With lightning-fast reflexes Acc hid the chess piece behind his back.

"Are you guys fighting again?" Madden gave them a suspicious look.

"No! What? Fighting? We would never fight! Right, Prophet?" A bead of sweat slowly made its way down Acc's forehead as he looked over to Prophet with pleading eyes.

"Of course not," Prophet confirmed. Madden sighed and shook her head.

"Please come to the bridge, our long-range scanners have picked up an energy signal." She turned around and headed back out before they could even react.

"Man, sometimes it doesn't feel like I'm the captain of this ship," Acc said and got up from his armchair.

"Maybe you should retire." Prophet smirked.

"Piss off." Acc half-heartedly threw the chess piece at Prophet.

"I love you too, Acc." Prophet laughed and followed him out of the common room.

 

They entered the bridge to find PyRock and Grizzli discussing the origin of the energy signal.

"Gentlemen, please share your knowledge with the rest of us," Acc told them.

"Captain, our sensors picked up an energy signal approximately 16 hours from our current position." PyRock handed him a tablet with the accumulated information.

"It seems to be a space station of some sort, but it's unlike anything we've ever come across before," Grizzli said.

"What do you mean?" Prophet asked.

"Well, the Rebels have always lacked the resources to build their own space stations, which is why their bases are always planet-bound," Grizzli answered, "and according to our scans there are no external weapons whatsoever, which means it wasn't made by the Ta'Shi."

"Could it belong to the Empire?" Acc looked up from the tablet.

"If it did, they would have hailed us by now," Madden piped in.

"I think it's time to acknowledge the fact that we might be even farther away from home than we previously thought," PyRock stated in a serious manner.

"What are you saying?" Madden looked at PyRock. She didn't like where this was going.

"I'm saying that this structure might not have been built by any faction or race that we know of," PyRock explained, "it might belong to lifeforms completely unknown to mankind."

The thought of being the first humans to encounter a new species of intelligent beings filled the crew with awe and left them quiet for several seconds. Finally, Acc was the one to break the silence.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" He sounded excited.

"Captain?" The others were confused.

"We can't get home with our ship in this sorry state, and it's not like we have anywhere else to go," Acc remarked, "so I say we go take a look at what kind of aliens live on that station!"

Acc's newfound determination spread like wildfire, and soon the others were just as hyped.

"Mr. Grizzli, please head down to the engineering bay and keep an eye on the engines. I want status reports every other hour."

"Yes, sir!" Grizzli quickly made his way off the bridge.

"Miss Madden, take us away," Acc said as he plotted the course for the signal's point of origin.

"Oui!" She returned to her seat and confirmed the coordinates. Then they were on their way.

"Captain, is there something I can do?" Prophet wondered.

"Yes, actually there is. You can take Mr. PyRock with you down to the teleporter and make sure everything is in order. And double-check our exo-suits and weapons, will you?"

"Sure thing, Captain." Prophet headed out the door with their scientist in tow.

"Excuse me, Captain, but am I supposed to pilot the ship for 16 hours straight? 'Cause I'm pretty sure I will die if I do that," Madden stated in a sarcastic, yet cute voice.

"Of course you are, Miss Madden. You're the pilot for a reason," Acc said frankly. Madden gave him a crooked look.

"I'm kidding! We'll take turns. I'll be back in a few hours to take over so you can get some rest. Does that sound good?"

"Oui! Thank you, Captain," Madden replied with a big smile.

"Good." Acc left the bridge and headed towards the kitchen to figure out what to make for dinner. While waiting for the food to be ready, he turned his head to look out the window. He observed the millions of white dots that passed by, along with a few stray asteroids. A blue-tailed comet made its way through the void, and a nebula could be seen in the distance, shaped in swirls and beautifully colored in shades of green and orange.

"Maybe space isn't such a dark place, after all," Acc thought to himself and smiled.

 

Roughly 15 hours later, after some well-deserved rest and a sturdy breakfast, the crew gathered on the bridge. They would soon reach their destination and needed to be ready for every possible scenario. As captain, Acc would have to live with this decision regardless of the outcome. Perhaps even die with it. He turned to face their science officer.

"Mr. PyRock, have our scanners detected any lifeforms on the station?"

"Yes, Captain, there seems to be one humanoid lifeform aboard," PyRock replied.

"Only one? On a station of that size?" Prophet wondered why this being was all alone in a place like that.

"That's good news," Acc reassured the crew, "if it's alone, we can board the station even if it turns out to be a hostile alien."

"But sir, if it's a nice alien, can we be friends with it?" Madden was really hoping she'd be able to talk to the new lifeform.

"Eh.. Maybe. I suppose it couldn't do any harm." Acc surrendered without arguing. He knew Madden would probably attempt to befriend the alien anyway.

"Yes! Thank you, Captain!" Madden was jumping with joy.

 

They approached the huge structure with caution. Their teleporter couldn't detect a receiving platform, so they decided to move the ship around the station, hoping to find a way in. On the other side they located a pair of massive hangar doors, and even though there had been no successful communication with whoever resided inside, the doors opened and seemed to invite them in. They decided to accept the invitation, seeing as their only other option would be to travel slowly in a random direction in search for answers they might never find.

Madden maneuvered the ship into the hangar and touched down in the middle of it. The huge hangar doors slid close behind them as they shut down their engines. The enormous room re-pressurized, and after running a few quick scans they concluded that the atmosphere was safe.

"Right, I guess this is it," Acc said to the crew.

"Don't worry, Captain, we're with you all the way." Prophet gave him a reassuring smile. The others nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, guys." Acc felt relieved. "Well, let's head out, shall we?"

The group headed to the loading bay and prepared to face whatever was out there. They opened the bay doors, only to find someone staring up at them from the hangar floor.

It was the alien.