STARFALL CHRONICLES : THE AWAKENING
Chapter 3: The Survivor
The woman’s name was Dr. Aris Thorne.
She was a neurologist, specializing in dream therapy. She had been assigned to the Perseus as part of a long-term study on the effects of deep-space travel on the human mind. She had been on board for three years before the Fracture.
She was the only survivor.
Elara brought her to the Odyssey’s medical bay. The doctors worked on her for hours, treating her injuries, hydrating her body, stabilizing her mind.
Aris did not speak.
She lay on the bed, her dark eyes fixed on the ceiling, her hands folded on her chest.
She looked like a corpse.
She looked like a ghost.
But she was alive.
Nova stood at the foot of the bed, watching.
“She’s dreaming,” Nova said.
“How do you know?”
Nova pointed at Aris’s eyes.
“They’re moving. Behind the lids. She’s somewhere else. Somewhere far away.”
“Can you reach her?”
Nova was silent for a long moment.
“I can try.”
Nova sat on the edge of the bed.
She took Aris’s hand.
The woman’s skin was cold.
“Dr. Thorne,” Nova said. “Can you hear me?”
No response.
“My name is Nova. I’m a dreamer. I can enter your dreams. I can find you. I can help you.”
Still nothing.
“But I need you to reach out. I need you to show me where you are.”
Aris’s fingers twitched.
Nova’s heart pounded.
“That’s it. That’s good. Keep going.”
Aris’s eyes moved beneath her lids.
She was dreaming.
And in her dream, she was calling for help.
Nova closed her eyes.
She took a deep breath.
She let go.
The world fell away.
The medical bay. The ship. The stars.
All of it faded into darkness, into silence, into nothing.
And then—
Light.
She was standing in a corridor.
Not the corridor of the Odyssey. Not the corridor of the Perseus. A different corridor. Dark and twisted, the walls covered in shadows, the floor covered in frost.
And standing at the end of the corridor, waiting for her, was Aris.
She was different in the dream. Younger. Stronger. Her white uniform was clean, her dark hair was brushed, her brown eyes were bright.
“Hello, Nova,” she said. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
“You know my name.”
“Everyone knows your name. You’re the heart of the network. The child who saved the colonies.”
“I didn’t save anyone. I just helped.”
Aris smiled.
It was a sad smile, small and tired and full of years.
“That’s what all heroes say.”
Nova walked toward her.
The corridor stretched, the shadows deepened, the cold grew heavier.
“What happened on the Perseus?” Nova asked.
Aris was silent for a long moment.
“The Fracture,” she said. “It didn’t just break the network. It broke something else. Something inside us.”
“What?”
Aris looked at the shadows.
At the darkness.
At the silence.
“The dreamers,” she said. “The ones who could see beyond the jump gates. The ones who could feel the network. The ones who could hear the whispers.”
“What whispers?”
Aris looked at her.
Her brown eyes were hollow.
“The whispers of the void. The ones who caused the Fracture. The ones who have been hiding. The ones who are still out there.”
Nova’s blood went cold.
“You’ve seen them?”
Aris nodded.
“They came to the Perseus after the Fracture. They boarded the ship. They walked through the corridors. They looked at the crew with their empty eyes.”
“What did they want?”
Aris was silent for a long moment.
“They wanted the dreamers. They wanted to consume them. To absorb them. To make them part of the void.”
“Did they?”
Aris’s eyes filled with tears.
“All but me. I hid. I ran. I survived.”
The corridor began to fade.
The shadows deepened. The cold grew heavier. The light dimmed.
“I have to go,” Nova said.
“I know.”
“Will you wake up?”
Aris looked at her.
Her brown eyes were wet.
“I’ll try.”
“That’s all I ask.”
Nova opened her eyes.
She was in the medical bay.
Aris was sitting up in bed.
Her brown eyes were open.
“Hello, Nova,” she said.
Nova smiled.
“Hello, Dr. Thorne. Welcome to the Odyssey.”