The Last Message

In the year 2341, humanity had spread across the stars, building cities on distant
planets, creating a vast network of interstellar colonies. The discovery of the
Axion Gates—ancient portals left behind by an unknown civilization—had
revolutionized space travel, allowing ships to leap across light-years in seconds.

Yet, even with all of humanity's progress, the universe remained a cold and
indifferent place.

Commander Elena Drayton of the starship Orion stood on the bridge, watching the
swirling nebula outside the viewport. The ship had been drifting for weeks, deep in
uncharted space, following a mysterious signal that had been detected just beyond
the edge of the known galaxy.

"Anything yet?" Elena asked, her voice tense with anticipation.

Lieutenant Vasquez, the ship's communications officer, frowned at his console. "The
signal is still there, Commander, but it's weak... barely holding. It's like it's
been repeating for centuries."

Elena's brow furrowed. "What do we know about it?"

"It’s not one of ours. The structure of the signal... it's unlike anything in our
records. Whoever sent it—" Vasquez paused. "They’re not human."

The bridge fell silent. First contact with an alien species had always been a
distant possibility, but one that no one had ever truly believed in. The galaxy was
vast, and after centuries of searching, humanity had found only traces of long-dead
civilizations, nothing living.

"How long until we reach the source?" Elena asked.

"Twenty minutes, ma'am," replied the navigator. "We're close."

Elena turned back to the viewport, her thoughts racing. If the signal had been sent
by an alien race, it could mean anything—a cry for help, a warning, or something
far more dangerous. But whatever it was, they were about to find out.

As Orion neared the origin of the signal, the crew's tension grew palpable. The
nebula outside thickened, casting the ship in an eerie blue glow. Then, suddenly,
the view cleared, and a massive structure appeared on the screen—a gigantic ring-
shaped object, slowly rotating in the void.

"My god..." whispered one of the crew members.

The ring was ancient, its surface scarred and pitted with the wear of millennia. In
the center of the ring was a glowing tear in space—a shimmering, pulsating rift.

"Axion Gate?" Elena asked, though she already knew the answer.

"Negative, Commander," Vasquez replied. "This is... something else. There's no

Elena took a deep breath. "Prepare a shuttle. We're going down."

The landing party descended to the surface of the structure, their boots echoing on
the metal floor. The air was thin but breathable, a sign that the ring had once
supported life.
Vasquez held a scanner, following the signal’s source. "It's close, just ahead."

They reached a central chamber, its walls covered in alien glyphs, glowing faintly
in the dim light. In the center of the room stood a console, ancient and covered in
dust. A single light blinked on it.

Elena stepped forward and wiped the dust away, revealing a small panel with a
glowing symbol. "This is it," she said softly. "The source of the signal."

She touched the panel, and the room shuddered. A holographic figure flickered to
life in front of them, tall and otherworldly, with elongated limbs and glowing
eyes.

It spoke, its voice soft and melancholic, its language automatically translated by
their systems. "We are the Orani. This is our last message. If you are hearing
this, it means we are gone."

The crew exchanged glances. A long-dead civilization, reaching out across time.

The hologram continued. "We traveled the stars, just as you do now. But we were not
the first. We found the Axion Gates, and we used them. We expanded, we thrived. But
in our hubris, we unlocked something we could not control."

The hologram’s eyes darkened. "The Axion Gates were never meant for us. They were
created by beings far older, far more powerful. When we used them, we awakened
them. They came from the void between the stars, and they wiped us out."

The room was silent, save for the hum of the ancient machinery.

"The signal we sent was a warning. Do not use the Gates. They are not safe. They
are a doorway to the end."

The hologram flickered, then vanished, leaving the room in silence.

Elena stared at the empty space where the hologram had been. "Shut down the Axion
Gates," she ordered quietly. "All of them."

Vasquez hesitated. "Commander, if we do that... we'll be cutting off entire

"I know," she replied, her voice heavy. "But we don't have a choice. If they were
right, we're not alone in the universe. And what’s out there... we can’t let it
in."

The crew returned to the Orion in silence, the weight of the message pressing down
on them. As the ship pulled away from the ring, Elena watched as the structure
receded into the distance, a lonely relic of a once-great civilization.

She didn’t know if the warning had come too late, but one thing was certain:
humanity was not the first to walk the stars, and it would not be the last.