It happened in the dark.

The Federation of Mother Galaxies informed me months ago that I’d be stationed at an isolated outpost - abandoned years ago after the Third war of the Interstellar Coalition. It used to be an active shipping hub. It hasn’t seen traffic in hundreds of years. At least, that’s what they used to say on the Mother World.

There was enough power to keep essential services onli...

My phone rang in the dead of night. The dim gray light broke through the darkness of my bedroom as vibration rattled through my nightstand and my ringtone broke through the silence. I forgot I’d changed it recently, and the sudden tone of the drowning theme from those old “Sonic the Hedgehog” games is certainly one way to be awakened at such early hours. It’s still dark outside.

I rolled over aft...