Chapter eighteen

Some examples of space-born lifeforms are the famous Kilthalopes, which are giant lifeforms that possess multiple giant, tubular heads and long, thick tentacles. They can also spew plasma out of their beaks.

Selene sighed as she stood on the bridge of her flagship. She was old now, and many years had passed. Even with the latest age-enhancement technology, she was near retirement. She thought back to her younger days, and that day which she had never forgotten.

After the meeting with the talking planet, she hurried back and reported everything to her superiors. There was mass panic, for a while, but the planet had never been sighted again.

She had suspicions, of course. One of which was the Dead Zone, which had appeared the day the planet had disappeared. The Dead Zone was a sector of space of which nothing was known. No sensors could see anything inside it, and any ships that were sent in were sent out shortly after with unconscious crews and wiped databanks.

That was why she had stationed one fleet to patrol the Dead Zone at all times. Many others had called her paranoid and the measure a waste, but she couldn’t shake off the nagging feeling that she needed to keep an eye on it. The Dead Zone Patrol was called “Cheap Vacation” by many people, as there was nothing much to do except making sure not to crash or steer into the zone.

Most sensors couldn’t penetrate the one, but what was inside could still be seen with the eye and a non-electronic telescope. That was why she was here. The observation station had reported strange occurrences inside the Dead Zone. Giant asteroids moving irregularly, the light given off by stars blinking, and even the changing of the orbits of some stars.

Some of these things could be written off as random occurrences, but together they made Selene very nervous.

She had even gone as far as to always station a dreadnought there, making the patrol fleet into a main battle fleet. This had attracted even more controversy, but she had fought tooth and nail for it, so eventually the council crumbled. Only then could she shake off the paranoia, if only barely.

It was her fleet, and she would make sure it stayed there even if the world crumbled, if only to prevent it from crumbling more.

Selene was shaken out of her contemplation by a crewmember yelling out. She shook her head and listened.

“Probes report sensor anomalies all over the board!” She gasped. Were her worst nightmares coming true?

“Report in more detail.” She yelled back, trying to keep the shudder out of her voice.

“Probes report total sensor blackout before returning to normal.”

“What about ship sensors?”

“Ship sensors…” The crewmember went silent.

“What is it? Report!”

“T-T-The ship sensors report a total lift of the veil for 28 milliseconds before it dropped again, this time with optical interference as well.” The bridge went silent. One brave crewmember shakingly opened his mouth.

“D-D-Does this mean the veil isn’t natural?”

Selene sat it silence for a few seconds, before sighing and standing up.

“No, it is not. And if I’m not wrong, whoever or whatever built it is ready to come out and play. When I called in a favour from the Hidden Council, even they said they wouldn’t be able to build something like it, which means that something bigger and badder than the combined Hidden and Surface councils is coming.”

The second she finished her words; the lights flickered. A cheerful voice rang out in accented Union Standard.

“Hey, you make us sound so evil, like big baddies! I’m actually a very nice person. Didn’t you get taught to not judge a person by their looks?”

The entire bridge sat paralyzed as the sensor board revealed a torrent of ships pouring out of the veil, ranging from hundreds of meters to kilometres long, with the crowning jewel being a ship that was marked as being 30 kilometres long.

Selene managed to choke out a final sentence as the giant ship flew over towards her flagship at speeds that should’ve been impossible.

“I wasn’t paranoid enough.”