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    Untold Stories: Untold Stories
    Untold Stories: Untold Stories
    Untold Stories: Untold Stories
    Ebook168 pages1 hour

    Untold Stories: Untold Stories

    By Sascha Ragucci

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    About this ebook

    A captivating collection of Sci-Fi short stories around the Galaxy

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSascha Ragucci
    Release dateFeb 12, 2025
    ISBN9798230550549
    Untold Stories: Untold Stories

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      Book preview

      Untold Stories - Sascha Ragucci

      The Silent Transition

      The crimson sun bled across the jagged, obsidian landscape, casting long, skeletal shadows that danced with the swirling, violet dust devils. Dr. Aris Thorne, his face etched with the weariness of months spent in solitude, watched the spectacle with a detached curiosity. Xylos, they called this desolate rock. A graveyard of a planet, light years from Earth, and his self-imposed prison.

      Aris had come seeking answers, driven by a desperate need to understand the Xylos Event – the sudden, inexplicable silencing of all communication from the once-thriving Xylos colony. He’d arrived with a team, but one by one, they succumbed to the planet’s insidious whispers – a creeping madness that preyed on the mind, amplified by the constant, low hum that vibrated through the very air. Now, only Aris remained, stubbornly clinging to logic in the face of the encroaching silence within himself.

      His small, prefabricated lab, powered by a sputtering fusion core, was his sanctuary. Inside, amidst flickering holographic displays and humming analytical equipment, he pored over the data he’d collected. The silence, he’d discovered, wasn’t just a communication breakdown. It was a... void. A complete absence of any detectable electromagnetic or neurological activity emanating from the colony site. As if they had simply ceased to exist.

      He’d ventured to the colony himself, of course. A ghost town of eerily untouched hab-domes, food still on tables, personal belongings scattered about. But no bodies. No signs of struggle. Just... emptiness. The silence was palpable there, a crushing weight that threatened to suffocate him. He’d returned to his lab, more confused than ever, the humming of the planet echoing in his skull.

      One day, while analyzing a core sample, he noticed an anomaly. A faint, almost imperceptible energy signature, unlike anything he’d encountered before. It pulsed rhythmically, originating from deep beneath the planet’s crust. Driven by a desperate hope, Aris initiated a deep-scan analysis. The results were staggering. A vast, complex network of crystalline structures, stretching across the planet’s core, pulsating with the same energy signature. And within the heart of the network, a single, massive, perfectly spherical void.

      Suddenly, it clicked. The Xylos Event wasn’t an event at all. It was a transition. The colonists hadn’t died. They’d been... absorbed. The crystalline network, he theorized, was some kind of inter-dimensional conduit, and the void was the destination. Xylos wasn't a graveyard. It was a gateway.

      The realization sent a chill down his spine, but also ignited a spark of excitement he hadn't felt in years. He knew he couldn't leave. He had to understand. He had to know where they had gone.

      He prepped his rover, loading it with supplies and his most sensitive equipment. He set a course for the epicenter of the energy pulse, a desolate region marked by a cluster of towering, obsidian spires. As he drove, the humming of the planet seemed to intensify, resonating with the growing anticipation within him.

      He reached the spires, their jagged peaks piercing the crimson sky. The energy pulse was almost deafening here. His instruments went haywire, displaying readings he couldn't comprehend. And then, he saw it. A shimmering, almost imperceptible rift in the air, nestled between two of the spires. The void.

      He stopped the rover, his heart pounding in his chest. He knew what he had to do. He stepped out, the silence of the planet suddenly broken by the rush of wind that swirled around him. He took a deep breath, the dry, alien air filling his lungs. He looked back at his lab, a tiny speck in the vast, desolate landscape. Then, he turned and walked towards the shimmering rift, towards the unknown, towards the silence beyond. He didn't know what awaited him, but he knew he had to find out. He was a scientist, after all. And the universe, he suspected, still held a few secrets worth dying for.

      Sanctuary's Call

      Captain Eva Rostova gripped the arms of her command chair, the bridge of the Stardust humming with the low thrum of its warp drive. Ahead, the inky black canvas of space was punctuated by the familiar pinpricks of distant stars. Anything on sensors, Jax? she asked, her voice crisp and professional.

      Nothing but the usual cosmic background radiation, Captain, Jax’s voice crackled through the comms. And a whole lot of nothing else.

      Eva sighed. Their mission – a routine survey of unexplored sectors – had yielded little more than dust and disappointment. Keep scanning, she instructed. We’re not going home empty-handed.

      Hours crawled by. Then, a sharp, insistent beep from the sensor console jolted them to attention. Captain, Jax stammered, I’m picking up a... a large metallic signature. Drifting. It’s... unlike anything I’ve ever seen.

      Eva leaned forward, her interest piqued. Visual?

      The main viewscreen flickered, resolving into a grainy image. A massive, derelict ship, its hull scarred and pitted, tumbled slowly through the void. Its design was archaic, almost alien, with sharp angles and bulky protrusions. By the stars... Eva breathed. That’s... that’s a Valkyrie-class warship.

      The Valkyrie-class. Legends whispered of these behemoths, relics of the Great Stellar War, a conflict fought over four thousand years ago, a war so devastating it nearly shattered the fragile galactic alliance. Most scholars believed the Valkyries were just myths, figments of overactive imaginations.

      Analysis, Kai, Eva ordered, turning to their xenoarchaeologist.

      Kai’s eyes were wide with disbelief. The hull composition... the energy signature... it matches the fragmented records we have on the Valkyries. Captain, this is real.

      Eva felt a thrill course through her. This discovery could rewrite history. Prepare a boarding party, she said, her voice filled with newfound purpose. Jax, plot a course. We’re going in.

      The Stardust cautiously approached the derelict. The boarding party, Eva, Kai, and their security officer Zara, floated across the gap in their EVA suits, tethering themselves to the Valkyrie’s hull. The ship was eerily silent, a tomb drifting through space.

      Inside, the atmosphere was stale and cold. Dust lay thick on every surface. The bridge was a scene of chaos, consoles smashed, chairs overturned. But it was the central chamber that truly captivated them. A massive holographic projector, still faintly glowing, displayed a scene of unimaginable destruction – fleets of Valkyries locked in a furious battle, energy weapons blazing, ships exploding in fiery bursts.

      A recording, Kai whispered, awestruck. A record of the Great Stellar War.

      As they explored further, they found more evidence of the ship’s violent end – scorch marks, shattered bulkheads, and... skeletal remains. The crew. Preserved by the vacuum of space, they were a silent testament to the brutal reality of the ancient war.

      Eva felt a sense of melancholy. These were not just relics. They were people, their lives cut short in a conflict that had faded into legend.

      Suddenly, a low hum resonated through the ship. The holographic projector flickered, displaying a new image – a star chart, pinpointing a location far beyond known space. A single word, written in an ancient script, flashed beneath it: Sanctuary.

      Eva exchanged a look with her crew. The Valkyrie hadn’t just been a relic. It was a message. A clue. A map to something... else.

      Change of plans, Eva announced, her voice filled with renewed determination. Jax, plot a new course. Destination: Sanctuary. The Stardust, once again humming with the power of its warp drive, turned its nose towards the unknown, following a trail blazed by the ghosts of a war fought millennia ago, towards a future yet to be written.

      Beyond Routine

      The Trans-Solar Express , a gleaming chrome behemoth, snaked its way through the inky black, a ribbon of light connecting the twin suns of the Kepler-186 system. Inside, Elias, a veteran conductor with eyes as weathered as the asteroid fields he’d traversed, surveyed his cargo. Caravans of cryo-preserved Xylar fruits, destined for the gourmet markets of Proxima Centauri, filled the refrigerated cars. His job was simple: deliver the goods, on time, no deviations. Routine.

      Elias preferred routine. Space, with its unpredictable solar flares and rogue comets, was chaotic enough without adding complications. He’d seen what could happen when things went wrong – ships vaporized, crews lost, cargo scattered across the void like cosmic dust. He’d learned to respect the silence, to heed the hum of the Express, to trust the rhythm of the rails.

      This run, however, felt... off. A strange static crackled through the comms, a low hum vibrated through the floor plates. Elias dismissed it as space static, the cosmic background radiation playing tricks on the ship's systems. But the feeling persisted, a prickling unease at the back of his neck.

      Then, the lights flickered and died, plunging the train into darkness. Emergency lights kicked in, casting long, eerie shadows. The hum intensified, becoming a deep, resonant drone. Elias grabbed his emergency torch and rushed to the control car.

      Report! he yelled at the pilot, a young woman named Anya, her face pale in the flickering light.

      I... I don’t know, Elias, she stammered. The engines... they’re unresponsive. The navigation system is scrambled. It’s like... like something’s interfering.

      Elias checked the diagnostics. The readings were erratic, nonsensical. The train was adrift, caught in some kind of... anomaly. He looked out the viewport. The familiar starscape was distorted, swirling like a cosmic whirlpool. Anya pointed to the sensors. There's an energy signature, Captain. It's... growing. And it's coming from... She trailed off, her voice

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