Author’s Note: Thank you for joining me on this journey. If you are new to this story, I suggest you start with Chapter 1. Your comments are very welcome!

---

The transport crawled to a stop near the collapsed outer perimeter of the dome, its engine sputtering and clicking as it powered down. Deia glanced out the window, squinting through her visor at the wreckage ahead. The once-imposing mining dome lay in ruins, its skeletal framework twisted and broken, pieces of transparent paneling shattered across the red Martian dust like fragments of a fallen giant.

“We’re not getting any closer in this thing,” Deia muttered, tapping the controls with frustration. The ground was littered with debris—too much for the vehicle to navigate any farther.

Jason sighed, rubbing his temples. “Alright, we go on foot from here. Everyone suit up.”

Deia exchanged a glance with Sam as they grabbed their pressure helmets from the back of the transport. The air outside was thin, unbreathable, and filled with Martian dust. They had to be careful. One crack in their suit, and they’d be as good as dead.

She snapped her helmet into place, the familiar hiss of the suit pressurizing her and giving her a brief moment of comfort. The heads-up display blinked to life, showing her vital signs and the surrounding atmospheric conditions—all normal—for Mars.

“Let’s move,” Jason said through the helmet comm, already stepping out of the transport.

The moment they stepped outside, Deia felt the desolation close in around them. The Martian landscape stretched endlessly, barren and hostile, with the only sign of life being their small team walking through the wreckage. Every step crunched over shattered pieces of the dome and the hard, cracked ground. The vibrations had stopped, but there was an ominous stillness now, as if the planet itself was holding its breath.

“Keep your eyes open,” Jason said, leading the way toward the drilling site, his voice crackling slightly in their comms. “If that thing’s moved as much as we think, it might be near the surface by now.”

Deia’s heart raced as they walked. She glanced around, scanning the ruined supports and shattered equipment, most of it buried under boulders and twisted metal. The dome was a wreck—likely beyond repair—and their mission had turned from resource extraction to pure survival. But curiosity gnawed at her, pulling her forward. What had they uncovered? And what was waiting beneath the surface?

As they approached the center of the site, the ground beneath their feet seemed to dip, as though the earth had been displaced by something massive beneath it. The site where the drill had once stood was now a crater, partially covered by fallen beams and rocks. The remains of the drill rig jutted out at odd angles, twisted like a bent spine.

“There,” Sam said, pointing ahead.

Deia followed her gaze and felt her breath catch in her throat. Rising from the ground, barely visible through the tangled wreckage, was the object.

The ghostly, bird-like shape they’d seen on the radar was now unmistakable, its massive form pressed just beneath the surface. It was enormous, at least fifty meters across, and it had almost broken through to the open air. Its curved, wing-like structures were pinned under fallen dome supports and a boulder the size of their transport.

The material wasn’t metal, but something smooth and organic-looking, almost like bone or shell, yet more robust. It gleamed faintly in the weak Martian sunlight, an otherworldly presence among the wreckage.

“My God… That’s not a bird,” Deia breathed, staring at the massive form. It looked ancient, yet there was something unnervingly alive about it as if it had been dormant for eons and was now slowly waking up.

“We’ve definitely disturbed it,” Sam whispered, her eyes wide. “But it’s still stuck.”

Jason moved closer, stepping carefully over the fallen debris. “It’s pinned under the supports and that boulder. If it hadn’t gotten stuck, it would’ve broken through the surface by now.”

“It’s not metal,” Deia said, her eyes tracing the smooth surface of the object. “But the drill couldn’t cut through it. What is this thing?”

Sam shook her head, stepping closer to examine the structure. “I have no idea. It’s… biological, I think. But not like anything we’ve ever seen before. It almost looks like…” she hesitated, looking to Deia and Jason for confirmation. ” A dragon,” she whispered.

Jason crouched down, his hand hovering just above the surface of the object, hesitant to touch it. “It’s huge… Are those scales?”

“Look,” Deia interrupted, her voice tight with dread. “It’s moving.”

They all froze, watching in disbelief as a subtle shift rippled through the object. It wasn’t much—just a slight creaking, like the faintest twitch of a muscle—but it was enough to send a chill down Deia’s spine. The thing wasn’t just some ancient relic. It was alive, or at least something close to being alive.

“What the hell do we do?” Sam asked, her voice small. “If that thing gets free—”

“We need to stop it,” Jason said, standing abruptly. “We don’t know what it is or what it’s capable of. But if it’s this massive, this powerful, we can’t let it break loose.”

“How?” Deia asked, struggling to calm her racing pulse. “It’s pinned now, but if we try to move that boulder or those supports, we might free it.”

Jason frowned, thinking quickly. “We need to figure out a way to contain it. Maybe we can use explosives to bring more debris down on top of it. Hold it in place long enough to get a team out here for further investigation.”

Deia wasn’t sure it would work. The thing was already close to the surface, and from what she could see, its power was growing. It wouldn’t stay pinned forever. But they had no other options.

“Alright,” she said, glancing at Sam. “Let’s check the equipment we still have. See if we can rig up something to keep it from moving.”

They moved quickly, weaving through the wreckage, checking for anything salvageable. All the while, the object loomed behind them, like a predator just waiting for the right moment to pounce. The ground felt unstable, trembling faintly beneath their feet, as though the object’s presence was straining the planet’s fragile crust.

As Deia searched through the remains of the equipment, a sharp noise pierced the air—like a deep, guttural groan.

She turned just in time to see the massive boulder shift.

“Jason!” Deia shouted, her voice urgent. “It’s moving again!”

Jason spun around, his eyes widening as the boulder slid, ever so slightly, off the object’s surface. The supports creaked dangerously, and the entire structure beneath them began to rumble.

“We have to stop it!” Sam yelled, scrambling toward the boulder, but Deia knew it was too late. The object was moving, slowly but surely, and once it broke free, nothing would be able to stop it.

Deia took a deep breath, adrenaline surging through her. “Whatever we do, we have to do it now.”

---

As they watched in horror, the massive creature began to stir beneath the rubble, inching closer to the surface.

Deia’s heart pounded as the massive creature shifted beneath the rubble. Dust and debris cascaded down its smooth surface, and the low groaning sound reverberated. The huge boulder that had held it down slid further, dislodging from its precarious perch and rolling to the side with a grinding thud.

It was almost free.

“Jason! We have to act now!” Deia shouted, stumbling backward as the ground shook violently beneath her. The tremors were more frequent now, and each one felt more purposeful. The object was trying to wrench itself from its Martian prison.

Jason swore under his breath, running toward the remaining supports that still pinned the creature under the fallen dome. “We’ve got to bring these down! Sam, grab the demolition charges from the equipment locker. If we collapse what’s left of the dome on top of it, we might manage to hold it long enough to get back up.”

Sam hesitated, her eyes wide with fear, but a glance at the stirring creature was enough to spur her into action. She sprinted toward the locker, fumbling with the latch and yanking out the small pack of explosives.

Deia hurried to help, her mind racing. “Do you really think this will work? It’s alive, Jason. We don’t even know what this thing is, or how strong it is.”

“We don’t have a choice,” Jason replied, his voice tight with urgency. “We either bury it or let it rise, and I’m not letting that happen.”

The object creaked again, louder this time, and one of its wing-like appendages shifted under the debris. Deia could see the smooth, bone-like material glinting in the dim Martian light, and her stomach twisted with unease. Whatever this thing was, it wasn’t just some fossilized relic. It had been dormant for millions of years, buried deep beneath the surface, and now it was waking up.

Sam rushed back with the demolition charges, her hands shaking as she handed one to Deia. “Set these at the base of the support beams. We need to drop the whole structure on it.”

Deia nodded, her fingers trembling as she carefully placed the charges along the twisted metal supports. The vibrations from the object beneath them grew stronger, making it harder to work. Each second was a race against time. The thing was actively trying to break free before they could stop it.

“I’ve got them set!” Deia called, stepping back from the final support. “Let’s get clear!”

They hurried to a safe distance, crouching behind a section of fallen dome, their hearts racing in unison. Jason held the detonator in his hands, his expression grim. He glanced at Deia and Sam, a silent question in his eyes: Are we ready?

Deia gave a quick nod. “Do it.”

Jason didn’t hesitate. He pressed the button.

A deafening explosion ripped through the thin air, followed by the muffled sound of metal crumpling as the remaining supports buckled and collapsed. The dome’s wreckage shifted violently, crashing down in a thunderous roar of dust and debris. The ground shook beneath their feet, and Deia threw her arms over her head as a cloud of dust and rubble enveloped them.

For a few moments, all she could hear was the sound of the collapsing structure, followed by an eerie, settling silence. When the dust finally began to clear, Deia hesitantly looked up, her heart still pounding in her chest.

The dome’s wreckage had fallen directly on top of the creature, burying it beneath tons of debris. For a moment, the ground was still, and Deia allowed herself a fleeting moment of hope.

“Did… did it work?” Sam asked, her voice shaking as she slowly stood, brushing the dust off her helmet.

Deia stared at the rubble, her breath shallow. “I—”

Before she could finish, the ground trembled again, this time harder than before. The wreckage shifted, dust and boulders sliding down the slopes of the collapsed dome. A deep, guttural sound echoed from beneath the rubble—like the low, slow groan of something ancient, something waking.

“No,” Deia whispered. “It’s not enough.”

The ground suddenly buckled, and with a violent crack, the debris exploded outward, sending shards of metal and rock flying through the air. Deia barely had time to dive for cover as the creature surged upward, its massive form breaking free of the last of the restraints. The creature unfolded, wings stretching wide, their smooth surfaces gleaming faintly in the Martian light.

Deia’s heart pounded in her chest as she stared in horror. The dragon, because that is the only thing it could possibly be, was even more enormous than she had imagined, towering above them like some ancient god. Its form was graceful, sleek, and utterly alien, with long, slender wings that seemed too light to support its enormous body. Its head—vaguely bird-like with sharp, angular features—turned slowly, as if taking in the world it had awoken to.

“We can’t stop it,” Sam whispered, her voice trembling with fear. “It’s too powerful.”

Jason stood frozen, his face pale beneath the visor of his helmet. “What the hell have we unleashed?”

The creature shifted again, its movements slow and deliberate, almost as if testing its newfound freedom. Dust and debris fell from its wings as it fully unfurled, casting a long shadow across the ruined drilling site.

Deia swallowed hard, forcing herself to breathe. Whatever this thing was, it had been dormant for millions of years, hidden beneath the Martian surface. And now it was free.

“We need to get out of here,” Jason said, his voice tight with urgency. “Now.”

Deia nodded, her heart racing. “But where do we go? If that thing—”

Suddenly, the creature’s head snapped in Deia’s direction, its dark, featureless eyes locking onto hers. A low, rumbling sound echoed from its chest, vibrating through the air.

Deia’s blood ran cold.

“Run!” Jason shouted, already sprinting toward the transport.

Without hesitation, Deia and Sam followed, their legs burning as they raced across the uneven terrain. The ground trembled beneath their feet, the vibrations growing stronger as the creature began to move—its enormous wings sweeping outward, sending gusts of dust and debris swirling around them.

Deia’s lungs burned, every muscle in her body screaming for relief, but she didn’t stop. She couldn’t stop. Behind them, the sound of the creature’s movements grew louder, the air vibrating with each decisive step it took.

They reached the transport, Jason slamming his fist against the door to open it. “Get in, get in!”

Deia barely had time to dive inside before Jason sealed the hatch behind her. The transport roared to life, its engine sputtering as she gunned it forward, desperate to put as much distance between them and the creature as possible.

Through the rear window, Deia could see the dragon towering in the distance, its massive wings slowly folding in as it watched them flee. For now, it didn’t pursue. It simply stood there, a silent, otherworldly sentinel.

Deia’s breath came in ragged gasps as she leaned back in her seat, her mind reeling. Whatever they had uncovered, whatever ancient power had been buried beneath Mars for so long—it was awake now.

---

The transport rumbled to a stop on a flat stretch of Martian ground, far enough from the towering creature that they could catch their breath. Deia leaned forward, her eyes still locked on the distant figure. The massive and alien creature had stopped moving. It stood motionless amid the wreckage of the mining dome, as though it had lost interest in them altogether.

“Is it… ignoring us?” Sam asked, her voice tight with confusion.

Deia kept her gaze fixed on the creature. “Looks like it.”

The thing’s dark, featureless eyes scanned the horizon, its massive wings folded tightly against its body. There was an eerie stillness about it now, as if it were searching for something—something far more important than the humans who had disturbed it.

“What’s it looking for?” Jason muttered, leaning forward in his seat, his brow furrowed with suspicion. “I don’t like this.”

As if in response to his words, the creature tensed, its head snapping toward the far horizon, its posture suddenly alert. Deia felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. It had found something—though what, she couldn’t imagine.

Without warning, the creature spread its massive wings, sending a gust of dust swirling into the air. Then, with nearly impossible grace, the creature launched itself and flew low over the Martian surface. The sound of its wings slicing through the thin atmosphere was barely a whisper, but its speed was astonishing.

“It’s leaving!” Sam exclaimed, her voice tinged with disbelief. “Where’s it going?”

“Follow it,” Jason yells. Deia wasted no time, slamming the transport’s controls into gear, gunning the engine and steering the vehicle after the soaring figure. Deia’s heart raced as they barreled across the uneven terrain, dust kicking up in their wake.

The creature flew fast, gliding just above the ground, its body cutting through the thin Martian air with disturbing ease. They quickly lost sight of it, but tracking showed the creature slowing to a stop after only a few minutes. It took them hours to reach it, finding it standing in the center of a vast plain. Deia squinted, watching the massive form as they approached.

“Stop the transport,” Jason said, his eyes fixed on the strange figure in the distance. “We’re getting too close.”

Deia slowed the vehicle, bringing it to a halt several hundred meters from where the creature stood. It was utterly still now, its dark eyes turned downward, staring intently at the ground in front of it.

“What’s it looking at?” Sam asked, her voice barely a whisper.

Jason opened the transport door, stepping out cautiously into the dust. The rest of the team followed, staring through their helmets’ tinted faceplates. Deia’s stomach twisted with dread as they approached the creature, its massive form looming over them like a statue.

They stopped a safe distance away, not wanting to provoke it. The creature remained still, its gaze locked on the ground, oblivious to their presence.

Deia’s curiosity burned inside her. She took a step closer, her heart pounding as she strained to see what had captured the creature’s attention. The ground in front of it was flat and featureless, covered in the same red dust that blanketed the entire planet. But as she looked closer, she saw something… different.

“Do you see that?” Deia whispered, pointing ahead. “Right there, in the dust.”

The others followed her gaze, and their expressions shifted from confusion to disbelief. There, lying half-buried in the Martian soil, was a small, irregular lump. At first, Deia thought it was just another rock—just another unremarkable piece of landscape. But the closer they got, the more she realized it wasn’t a rock at all.

It looked like a body.

“What the hell is that?” Jason muttered, stepping closer. “It can’t be a body… not out here.”

Deia’s heart raced. The shape was unmistakable now. The longer she stared, the more she could make out—arms, legs, a head. But it wasn’t human. The proportions were all wrong—too long, too thin. The body had deteriorated, its form eroded by the harsh environment, but there was enough left to see the outline.

The thing was ancient, withered beyond recognition. Despite the deep cold and lack of oxygen, the constant bombardment of sunlight and cosmic radiation had reduced it to a shell of what it once was. Its skin—or what was left of it—had turned brittle, stretched tightly over its elongated bones. The entire figure was coated in Martian dust, as though it had been lying there for eons, forgotten by time.

“Impossible,” Sam whispered, crouching down near the body. “To degrade like this… with no atmosphere, no water… this thing could be thousands, maybe millions of years old.”

Deia’s throat tightened. “What the hell happened here?”

The creature, still looming above them, seemed utterly focused on the long-dead body. It made no sound, gave no indication of aggression. It simply watched the remains with an intensity that made Deia’s skin crawl.

“I don’t think this thing is a random artifact,” Deia said, her voice barely audible. “It’s connected to this.”

“But what is it?” Jason asked, his eyes locked on the withered form. “Is this what it was looking for?”

Deia didn’t have an answer. She crouched down beside Sam, carefully brushing away some of the dust from the figure. Beneath the grime, the body’s elongated fingers were curled around something—a small object, held tightly in its grip. Deia’s hands shook as she gently pried the fingers open, revealing the item beneath.

It was a strange, spiral-shaped device, smooth and organic-looking, similar in design to the material they’d seen on the creature. The sight of it sent a chill down her spine. It was ancient, just like the body, but still intact. Somehow, it had survived the passage of time.

“It’s the same material,” Sam murmured. “Like the skin of the… creature.” 

The Dragon

Deia nodded, her heart pounding in her chest. Whatever this device was, it was important. The creature—the ancient figure looming over them—had been searching for it.

Before she could react, a low, rumbling sound came from the creature behind them. Deia’s breath caught in her throat as the massive figure stirred, its gaze still locked on the small, spiral-shaped device in her hands.

“I think it wants that,” Jason whispered, his voice tight with tension.

Deia slowly stood, holding the object in her hands. The creature remained still, watching her with an intensity that was impossible to ignore. She could feel its eyes on her, as though it were waiting for her to make a decision.

“What do we do?” Sam asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Deia swallowed hard, her mind racing. Whatever this thing was—whatever connection it had to the ancient body and the device—it wasn’t finished. They had uncovered something old, something powerful.

“We give it what it wants,” Deia said, her voice shaking. “And then… we get the hell out of here.”

With trembling hands, Deia slowly stepped forward, holding the device out toward the creature. The ground shook beneath her feet, and the air seemed to hum with energy as the massive figure leaned forward, its dark, alien eyes fixed on the device.

Deia’s heart pounded as she took another step closer, her breath catching in her throat.

The creature’s massive, clawed arm reached out, its sharp fingers brushing against the device.

And then, in an instant, everything changed.

---

Deia stood frozen, her breath shallow in the thin Martian air. The massive creature loomed before her, its alien eyes locked on the spiral device in her hands. But then something shifted—a ripple in the atmosphere, like a change in pressure. It wasn’t a sound, not a voice in her head, but more of a feeling.

Help me?

Deia blinked, startled, but there was no mistaking the intent behind the feeling. It was a question—a soft, desperate request. She felt the weight of it settle in her chest, heavy and urgent. Her instincts told her to run, to get as far away from this thing as possible. But something deeper inside her answered the creature’s silent plea.

Yes.

The moment she formed the thought, the creature stirred. Its massive wings folded close to its body, and it settled down onto the ground beside the ancient, desiccated corpse. Deia’s pulse quickened as a seam appeared along the creature’s side, almost invisible at first, but slowly widening until it became clear that it wasn’t just a creature—it was a ship. A door slid open, revealing an inner chamber lit by a faint, organic glow. The material of the ship’s skin seemed to pulse, alive and warm, like the walls themselves were breathing.

Deia took a hesitant step back, her mind racing. The dragon—the ship—tilted its head slightly toward the body lying in the dust, then back to the open door. The meaning was clear.

“You want me to… bring the body inside?” Deia asked aloud, her voice trembling. There was no response, not in words, but she felt the confirmation—the same quiet urgency pressed against her thoughts.

She glanced at Jason and Sam, their wide eyes reflecting the same disbelief she felt, but they said nothing. Deia swallowed hard, her heart pounding, and slowly crouched down beside the ancient body. It was light, unnervingly so—its withered form barely more than a brittle skeleton wrapped in desiccated skin. As she lifted it, dust flaked off in delicate wisps, as if it might disintegrate entirely in her hands.

Carefully, Deia carried the body toward the ship. The open doorway beckoned, a soft light spilling out from within. She hesitated for only a moment before stepping inside. The air inside the vessel was warmer than the freezing Martian atmosphere, almost comforting in its strange, organic way. The walls pulsed faintly, the rhythm of a heart she could barely perceive.

She laid the ancient body down gently on a platform that seemed to rise out of the floor, as though it had been waiting for this moment. The ship felt alive around her, and for the first time, Deia didn’t feel afraid.

As she turned to leave, something caught her eye. In the dim light of the ship’s interior, she saw a shape—a large, spiraling structure set deep within the walls. It was similar to the small device she had taken from the ancient corpse but much larger and more significant. The material was darker, almost obsidian, and it seemed to pulse faintly with a hidden energy.

The same feeling—the same quiet plea—washed over her again.

Take it.

Deia’s hand moved before she could think, reaching out toward the more significant spiral. The instant her fingers brushed against its cool surface, a pulse of energy shot through her, not violent but steady, like a surge of awareness. She gasped, feeling the weight of the object settle into her mind, as if the ship itself was speaking to her through the device.

She pulled it free from the wall, and the instant she did, the soft glow inside the ship brightened for a moment before dimming again, as if in acknowledgment. Deia backed away, clutching the larger spiral device tightly in her hands.

When she reached the doorway, the ship stirred again. The organic walls shifted, and the door began to close. Deia hurried out, stepping back onto the Martian surface as the door sealed shut behind her. She stood there, staring in disbelief as the ship—the creature—shifted its massive wings.

Without warning, it rose into the air, silent and graceful. Its massive form ascended straight up, cutting through the thin Martian atmosphere with barely a sound. Deia, Jason, and Sam watched in stunned silence as it climbed higher and higher, its dark silhouette quickly disappearing into the pale, dusky sky.

It didn’t stop. The ship flew straight up, vanishing into the blackness of space in a matter of seconds, leaving behind only a thin trail of disturbed dust on the ground.

Deia stood there, clutching the larger spiral device in her hands, her mind reeling. The feeling of the ship’s presence—the desperate plea for help—had faded, leaving her in an eerie silence.

“What… just happened?” Jason asked, his voice shaky.

Deia didn’t have an answer. All she knew was that the ship was gone. The ancient being had taken its final passenger and vanished into the stars.

And now she was left holding something far more dangerous than they had ever imagined.

Sam slowly approached, her eyes wide as she looked at the larger spiral device in Deia’s hands. “What is that thing?”

Deia shook her head, her voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t know. But I think it’s the reason we found that body… and the reason the ship was here.”

The Martian winds stirred, kicking up red dust around them as they stood in the silence, the vastness of the empty planet stretching out before them. The ship was gone, but the questions it left behind loomed large in the cold, thin air.

And somewhere, deep in Deia’s mind, the lingering presence of the quiet plea still echoed softly, like a forgotten whisper from a time long past.

Help me?

---

The lights in the base flickered softly as Deia sat at the central console, staring blankly at the screen. The silence was suffocating. They had done everything they could—sent the data, the video feeds from their suits, the mining security footage. They’d laid it all out for Earth, desperate for someone to believe what had happened.

But the response had been precisely what Deia feared: disbelief.

“We’re reviewing the information,” the official had said, his voice dismissive and professional. “But this… sounds like an equipment malfunction. Maybe stress from your team due to the dome collapse. Stand by for retrieval.”

And then, just as Deia had opened her mouth to protest, the comm satellite above lost its connection. Without the quantum link in that satellite there would be no instant communications with Earth. There was no warning, no explanation—just gone. The connection was severed, leaving them completely isolated on Mars. It was against protocol, an action that should have triggered immediate emergency responses. But nothing came. The dead silence felt deliberate.

Now, they were alone, cut off from Earth with no explanation. Deia rubbed her temples, trying to ignore the uneasy knot forming in her stomach.

“Still nothing?” Jason asked from behind her, pacing back and forth.

“Nothing,” Deia replied, her voice tight. “Comms are down. We’re completely cut off.”

Jason swore under his breath, running a hand through his hair. His face was streaked with exhaustion, and the bruises from the collapse were still visible along his arms and neck. “So, we wait. They’ll have to send someone when we don’t check in.”

“That’s assuming they care enough to send anyone,” Sam muttered from the far side of the room, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. She looked just as battered as Jason—her face smeared with dust and her skin dotted with minor cuts and bruises. She cringed every time she moved, her ribs no doubt still sore from where she’d been thrown during the quake.

Deia glanced down at her own hands, her stomach twisting with unease. She should’ve been in the same shape as them—bruised, scratched, aching. She had been slammed into debris when the dome had collapsed, felt the sharp pain as the jagged metal had sliced into her skin.

But now… there was nothing. No bruises, no cuts. The pain had vanished. She was completely healed.

She didn’t know when it had happened, or how. She hadn’t noticed at first—too focused on getting back to base, too distracted by the chaos of what they had uncovered. But now, as she sat there, her skin smooth and unblemished, the realization hit her with a cold, creeping dread.

The only thing different between her and the others… was the object.

Her eyes shifted toward the mysterious spiral device, now sitting on the table across the room. It was a larger, darker version of the one they had found with the ancient body. It looked almost inert, harmless in its simplicity. But Deia knew better. It had done something to her—somehow, it had healed her. She could feel the truth of it deep in her bones.

“Jason…” Deia said quietly, her voice tight with unease. “I think something’s happening to me.”

Jason stopped pacing, his eyes narrowing. “What do you mean?”

She hesitated, her heart racing. “I don’t have any bruises. No cuts. I was just as banged up as you two after the collapse, but now… there’s nothing. I think it’s the device.”

Sam glanced sharply at the object, her eyes wide with a mixture of fear and curiosity. “The spiral? What do you mean, it’s the device?”

Deia shook her head, struggling to find the right words. “I don’t know exactly. But ever since I touched it—ever since I took it from the ship—something’s changed. I feel… different. Like it healed me.”

Jason stared at her, disbelief flickering in his eyes. “You’re saying this thing fixed you up? Just by touching it?”

“I don’t know how,” Deia said, standing from the console and stepping toward the table. Her hands were shaking now, her mind buzzing with unanswered questions. “But I’m not injured. And I was.”

Sam’s expression shifted, a flash of intrigue crossing her face. Before Deia could say anything more, Sam suddenly lunged forward, reaching out toward the spiral device.

“Sam, wait!” Deia shouted, her heart lurching in her chest.

But it was too late. Sam’s fingers brushed the dark surface of the spiral, and the moment they did, the air around them seemed to shift. There was no sound, no burst of light, but Deia felt it—an electric current, a pulse of energy that passed through the room. Sam froze, her eyes wide, her body stiff as her hand rested on the device.

“Sam?” Jason said, his voice filled with alarm.

Sam didn’t respond at first, her gaze locked on the spiral. Her breath came in shallow gasps, and her hand trembled slightly, still pressed against the smooth, dark surface. Deia moved toward her, fear coiling in her stomach.

“Sam, let go,” Deia urged, reaching out to pull her back.

But just as Deia’s fingers touched Sam’s shoulder, Sam jerked her hand away from the device, stumbling backward. Her face was pale, her eyes wide with shock and awe.

“Sam, are you alright?” Jason asked, stepping toward her.

Sam didn’t respond immediately. Her chest heaved, her breath coming in shallow gasps. She slowly lifted her hand, staring at her palm as if expecting something to happen.

“I felt it,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “It was… alive. I felt it move through me.”

“What do you mean?” Deia asked, her stomach turning with unease.

Sam turned her wide eyes toward Deia, her face pale and stricken. “It was inside me. I felt it healing me.”

Deia’s pulse quickened. “Healing you?”

Sam nodded slowly, her eyes flickering back to the device. “It’s not just a machine. It’s something more. Something ancient. I don’t know how to describe it… but when I touched it, I felt this… pulse. Like it was fixing something inside me.”

Jason’s expression hardened. “You shouldn’t have touched it.”

“I had to know,” Sam said, her voice shaky but insistent. “It’s… it’s powerful, Jason. This thing—whatever it is—it’s not just a piece of technology. It’s alive in some way. It knows.”

Deia exchanged a glance with Jason, dread pooling in her stomach. The implications of what Sam was saying were staggering. The device wasn’t just an artifact—it was something far more dangerous, far more complex than they had imagined.

“What do we do now?” Deia asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Jason stared at the device, his expression grim. “We wait. We wait for Earth to send a team, if they’re still planning to.”

Deia nodded slowly, but in the pit of her stomach, she knew something had changed. They weren’t just cut off from Earth—they were now entirely at the mercy of whatever this ancient device was. And it wasn’t finished with them yet.

---

The hours dragged on in the base’s silence, and the unease that had settled over them after Sam touched the device only deepened. Deia found herself pacing the length of the main room, her mind spinning with possibilities, none of them comforting. Jason had retreated to the comm room, futilely checking for any sign that Earth might reestablish contact. Sam sat at the table, her eyes locked on the spiral device, as if she were trying to puzzle out its mysteries with sheer willpower.

But there was nothing. No answers. No signals. Only the eerie quiet of the Martian landscape and the faint hum as the environmental systems kept them alive.

Deia glanced at her reflection in the viewport, her face smooth and unblemished. No bruises. No cuts. The memory of the injuries from the dome collapse felt distant, like something from another life. It should have been a relief, but it wasn’t. It felt wrong. She shouldn’t be healed. Not like this. And Sam… Sam’s face was filled with an unsettling awe, staring at the ancient artifact.

“How are you feeling?” Deia asked quietly, breaking the silence as she stopped near the table.

Sam blinked, finally looking away from the spiral. “I’m fine,” she said, her voice soft. “It’s strange, though. I can still feel it… what it did to me. Like it’s… still there, lingering.” Her eyes drift back to the artifact.

Deia frowned, feeling a chill crawl up her spine. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know,” Sam admitted, shaking her head. “When I touched it, it was like this… pulse of energy ran through me. It didn’t hurt. It felt almost… good. And now, I can still feel something. It’s faint, but it’s there.”

Deia shivered. “I don’t like it. Whatever this thing is, we don’t know enough about it.”

Jason appeared in the doorway of the comm room. His expression was tight, frustrated. “Still no signal. Comms are dead. I think the satellite’s been taken offline. Someone’s cutting us off on purpose.”

Deia’s stomach twisted at the thought. “Cutting us off from Earth?”

Jason nodded, walking over to join them at the table. “That’s the only explanation. There’s no way this is just a malfunction. The moment we sent the footage of that thing—of the creature, the ship, the dragon—they shut everything down.”

Sam raised an eyebrow, looking troubled. “But why? They wouldn’t just leave us stranded out here.”

“I think they don’t want whatever we found to get out,” Jason said grimly, glancing at the spiral device on the table. “They probably don’t know what to make of it, and until they figure it out, we’re a risk.”

“So what?” Deia asked, her voice tight with anxiety. “They’re just going to leave us here, cut off, until they decide what to do?”

Jason didn’t answer immediately, but the silence that followed was answer enough.

Deia sat down heavily, her mind reeling. “This thing—this artifact—it’s more than just a relic. It did something to me, and now Sam too. And if Earth knows, if they understand even a fraction of what this thing is capable of…”

“They’ll want to control it,” Jason finished, his voice bitter. “And they’ll do whatever it takes to make sure it doesn’t fall into anyone else’s hands.”

The weight of the situation pressed down on them, the tension in the room thickening like a suffocating fog. They were utterly alone, cut off, and at the mercy of a mysterious device that was doing things none of them could explain.

Suddenly, the lights flickered. Deia’s heart skipped a beat as the hum of the environmental systems stuttered, then resumed, but weaker, as if something was straining the power grid.

“What the hell?” Jason muttered, looking toward the control panel.

Deia stood up, her eyes scanning the room. “What’s going on? Is the power failing?”

Jason rushed over to the console, his fingers tapping the controls furiously. “No… the systems are still online, but something’s pulling more energy than usual. It’s coming from…” He trailed off, his eyes widening as he looked up at the spiral device.

“From the device?” Sam asked, standing slowly.

Jason nodded, his face pale. “It’s drawing power from the base. Somehow, it’s tapping into the system.”

Deia’s pulse quickened. “How is that even possible? It’s not connected to anything.”

“I don’t know,” Jason said, his voice strained. “But it’s doing it. I can see the energy draw spiking on the monitors.”

Sam stepped closer to the device, her face tight with both fascination and fear. “What does it want?”

Deia felt the air in the room grow heavy, thick with the unspoken presence of something more. It wasn’t a voice, not like before, but the feeling was unmistakable.

It wants something.

“It’s trying to… activate,” Deia whispered, her eyes locked on the spiral.

Before they could react, Sam reached out again. “Sam, don’t—!” Jason started to shout, but it was too late.

Her fingers brushed the device, and the lights in the base flickered again, this time more violently. The low hum of the systems cut out for a moment, leaving them in a sudden, suffocating silence. The room plunged into partial darkness, illuminated only by the dim emergency lights, but the device—it—began to glow.

A soft, pulsing light radiated from its spiraled surface, casting eerie shadows across the walls. Deia’s breath caught in her throat. She could feel the pulse now, the same energy that had healed her, moving through the room, reaching out like invisible tendrils.

“Sam!” Jason shouted, pulling her back, but Sam’s eyes were wide with awe, not fear.

“It’s not hurting me,” she whispered, her voice barely audible. “It’s… trying to communicate.”

Deia stepped back, her heart racing. “We don’t know what it wants, Sam! This thing is dangerous.”

But Sam shook her head, her gaze still locked on the glowing spiral. “It’s not trying to hurt us. It’s… waiting.”

“For what?” Jason demanded, but even as he spoke, the pulsing light began to fade.

The energy in the room seemed to drain away, and the lights flickered back on. The systems’ hum resumed, though weaker, as if recovering from the brief disruption. The spiral device returned to its inert state, the glow gone, leaving only the cold, dark surface behind.

The room was quiet again, but the tension remained.

“What the hell was that?” Jason asked, his voice sharp with fear and frustration.

“I don’t know,” Sam replied, her voice still filled with awe. “But it’s not finished with us. Not yet.”

Deia stared at the device, her mind racing. Whatever the artifact was, it was more powerful—and more sentient—than they had ever imagined. They were cut off, isolated, and at the mercy of something far beyond their understanding.

And it was waiting.

---

Author’s note: Thank you for continuing to read my story. Your thoughts and suggestions at this point are very welcome, so leave me a comment, positive or negative! The next chapter is “Unraveling Time: A Perilous Journey“.