Year 3557 after the explosion of Auris V,
Evelon System
-Djani-
Red lights were flashing everywhere in the spaceship, and a dull siren would not stop blaring.
Djani became afraid. She ran into the command room. It was utter chaos. Everyone was shouting over each other. Djani could only catch fragments of sentences.
"The system is collapsing!"
"Connection to the mothership lost!"
"We've been caught in some kind of pull!"
"Something is dragging us in!"
Djani ran to her father, Commander Pellorn.
"What happened?"
He shook his head. "We have no idea."
Djani looked out the window. She couldn't see anything, only darkness.
Suddenly, Djani felt a stabbing pain in her head and heard nothing but a ringing in her ears. She saw the others covering their ears with their hands. She became dizzy and nauseous.
Eventually, she lost consciousness.
-----
When she came to again, she could still hear the blaring of the sirens. She opened her eyes. She was still dizzy. The others also seemed to be regaining consciousness only now.
"Something's not right," said Dr. Hendricks.
"The navigation systems and clocks are going crazy."
Djani sat up.
Suddenly, she heard murmuring spreading through the command room.
"What is that? Which system?" she heard someone ask.
Everyone suddenly fell silent.
She looked out the window again and saw the reason for the silence. Not far ahead of them, a blue-green pearl was floating in space.
"Where are we?" asked Commander Pellorn.
"This is an unknown system. The onboard computer is still malfunctioning," replied Adjutant Justons.
"Let's try to establish contact with the Crowned Buzzard," said Commander Pellorn.
"I can't find it," said Dr. Hendricks.
Where have we ended up? Djani wondered. They were only supposed to take a short reconnaissance flight in the Evelon sister system.
A team of scientists had detected irregularities in matter.
They had also wanted to use the excursion to begin terraforming on the planet Sandis III.
Djani had accompanied her father on excursions many times before, and nothing had ever happened.
The planet in front of them already seemed to be terraformed. Had someone been there before them? Who?
"I can't find any other ship in the entire visible vicinity," Dr. Hendricks continued.
"Can't we just send messages on different frequencies?" Djani asked.
Dr. Hendricks looked at her with a roll of her eyes. "Please, no suggestions from untrained crew members."
Djani sighed. No one ever took her seriously. She was always just Commander Pellorn's daughter, who herself had no idea. Since her parents were quite wealthy, she had also never really thought about what she wanted to do with her life.
"Djani isn't entirely wrong," her father defended her. "It might be worth a try."
Dr. Hendricks shrugged and then tapped on the control panel.
-----
Hours later, there were still no new findings. They were simply drifting aimlessly through this unknown system.
Djani sat next to her father. "Everything will be fine," he tried to reassure her.
Everything was not fine. Even after days, they were unable to establish contact with anyone. The crew was slowly losing hope. They were completely disoriented.
-----
After a few weeks, they decided to approach the unknown planet. They were unable to establish contact with anyone on the planet. They had sent out an angler probe, a type of probe that could send signals through a magnetic field. The first measurements showed that the conditions would at least not be immediately fatal. They could not determine more than that. At least the temperatures were optimal for human life.
Djani was afraid. It was the first time she would land on a planet that already looked like it had life.
What would await her there? But they had no choice. They were not built for eternity. For most supplies and oxygen, the mothership was supposed to provide.
A landing therefore seemed reasonable.
The closer they got to the planet, the more it seemed to glow in space. There appeared to be water, enough land, and forests. There was no space station anywhere near it.
They decided to land in a more remote area. As they got closer, they could make out a medium-sized island in the middle of an ocean.
"We will land there," said Commander Pellorn.
After they had landed on the island, everyone first had to put on their space suits. They still didn't know what the atmosphere and oxygen levels were like. The gravity was the same as on their home world, Aureis. It felt strange to have solid ground under their feet again after such a long time. They had to get used to it slowly.
Dr. Hendricks would go out first with a measuring device before they could take off their helmets.
They followed her outside. It looked peaceful. An island with palm trees, forest, and a sandy beach. They could see insects and birds in the air. No trace of human life.
"Outside temperature: 23.7 degrees Celsius," she said.
"Oxygen level: 21%, no toxicity detectable."
It sounded almost too good to be true.
Dr. Hendricks and a few others began to take off their helmets.
Djani wanted to wait. What if they had overlooked something?
"We can breathe normally!" Justons called out. "The air is very pleasant and fresh."
Others also removed their helmets. Djani was still skeptical. She would rather wait a little longer.
When everything seemed safe and no one had died, she finally dared to take off her helmet.
She held her breath at first, and then slowly dared to breathe. Then she took a deep breath and began to laugh. It felt good. The air smelled almost sweet.
-----
They had sent out a few scouts to explore the island. No sign of humans. But they had found fruits and fresh water. And fish. Dr. Hendricks examined the water. It was safe to drink.
In the evening, they all sat together. About 25 people.
"Where have we ended up?" someone asked.
"We had a hypothesis before," explained Commander Pellorn. "Our measurements had detected an unusual curvature of matter."
"An anomaly," Dr. Hendricks interjected. "I first thought it was nonsense. But after what has happened, I consider it possible."
"Can someone explain it to me?" Djani asked.
Dr. Hendricks took a piece of fabric. She formed something like a deep tunnel in the middle. "We don't yet know exactly what. But we suspect there was an impulse that caused matter here to collapse or bend. It seems to have opened a gateway to another galaxy, a kind of shortcut."
Djani didn't understand anything. "And can't we just fly back through the tunnel?"
"The anomaly was gone," said Dr. Hendricks. "We haven't found anything like it in this system. Maybe the trigger has disappeared. I assume we're stuck here."
"Can't we fly back another way?" Djani asked.
Her father and Dr. Hendricks exchanged a glance, as if silently communicating.
"She should know," said Dr. Hendricks.
"Know what?" Djani asked.
Commander Pellorn hesitated, then finally nodded.
Dr. Hendricks looked at Djani with sympathy. "Even if we could fly back—the world you know no longer exists."
Djani raised her eyebrows. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"The curvature temporarily altered space-time. We are probably centuries away from Aureis. Even if we return or find a shortcut—centuries will have passed there."
Djani stood up and shook her head. "No. No! That can't be." She thought of her mother, her friends. Of Alec, her boyfriend. They had planned to be away for a few months. And she had always had the option to contact them. Now everything was impossible. And centuries? Centuries? Her heart began to race. Then—then—then… then everyone would be dead.
"Djani!" she heard her father call, but then everything went black again.
-----
In the following weeks, Djani lived as if in a daze. Every day she waited for someone to make a grand discovery or for some message from home to arrive. Nothing. Nothing!
-----
Two crew members, Jonsen and Liricson, had built a boat out of wood. They wanted to explore the next island. There was not much more to discover on their island. At least everything was peaceful.
-----
After a few days, the crew members returned.
Djani was sitting on the beach, drawing something in the sand with a stick. She missed her life. Her friends, her family, but also the dazzling life on Aureis. Even the neon lights. Video games. Food she hadn't liked before.
There was simply nothing to do here. It was all just waiting.
When she saw the crew members, she stood up and walked toward them. The others had already gathered.
"We met other humans!" one of them said. The crew cheered.
"What are they like?" someone asked.
Jonsen shrugged. "They speak a foreign language. We couldn't communicate. The translator couldn't recognize any language."
How strange. The translator could translate 5,000 languages.
"Is there perhaps a station or messages?" Pellorn asked.
Liricson laughed. Then he became serious. "We're in quite a mess. The world here—they live like in the Middle Ages. No technology. No progress."
Everyone widened their eyes and fell silent. That was not good news.
"If that's the case, then we will adhere to the Aureis Charter," said Pellorn.
The Aureis Charter stated that other worlds must not be influenced. Their only goal was to terraform uninhabited planets. If an inhabited planet was ever found, they were not to interfere with its history or culture.
"But are they even humans like us?" Djani asked.
Jonsen nodded. "They look exactly like us, and aside from seeming to come from past times, we can't detect any difference."
"Middle Ages, huh," said Dr. Hendricks.
"We will keep a low profile until we find a solution. We will conceal the spaceship and not show the people here our technology. They have the right to their own history and development," Pellorn continued. This too was part of the Charter.
Everyone agreed.
"Since we may not be able to avoid occasional contact with the inhabitants here, I suggest we begin learning their language," said Dr. Hendricks.
Pellorn nodded and looked at Djani. "My daughter has a talent for languages. Djani, I will send you with a few men to try to learn as much as possible."
She wanted to object, but what else could she do? At least she would have a task, and time would pass more quickly. She nodded. They decided to tell the people here only that they came from far away, but not that they had essentially come from the sky.
-----
The crew struggled to adapt to life in this world. They had to start everything from scratch. They were not prepared for such a life and were used to living with the most advanced technology. Some devices were solar-powered, but there was no radio, no satellites. There was only nature as far as the eye could see.
-----
Djani had begun making trips to the surrounding islands, trying to learn the language. She was making slow progress.
But she was anything but happy. She only hoped that the nightmare would soon end.
But months passed. And eventually years.
Nothing.