The Eternal Cycle

The colony of Novaterra was the crowning achievement of humanity—a shimmering city suspended on the edge of a crimson planet, light-years from Earth. For Dr. Elena Voss, its chief xenobiologist, it was a dream realized. But tonight, her dream had turned into something else.

Elena leaned over her lab console, her brow furrowed. The specimen they had excavated—a smooth, black orb the size of her fist—was defying every known principle of biology. No heat signature, no identifiable composition, and yet it pulsed faintly like a heartbeat.

Her comm beeped. “Voss here.”

The voice of Commander Rayna Beck came through, sharp and tense. “Elena, I need you in the control room. Now.”

“What’s wrong?”

“You’ll see.” And then the line went dead.

Elena grabbed her datapad and rushed to the command deck. As the elevator rose, she glanced out at the colony’s glass dome. The usual serene glow of Novaterra’s twin moons was absent, replaced by an unnatural haze spreading across the horizon.

The doors hissed open, and Elena was met with chaos. Screens blared red warnings, and technicians scrambled between consoles. At the center of it all, Commander Beck stood rigid, her face lit by the flickering light of the main display.

“What’s going on?” Elena demanded.

Rayna didn’t look at her. She simply pointed to the screen. “That.”

The orbital feed showed a fleet of black, angular ships materializing in the atmosphere, their surfaces gleaming like liquid obsidian.

“First contact?” Elena asked, her voice caught between wonder and fear.

Rayna shook her head. “They’re not responding to hails. No signals, no language. But they’ve been… watching.”

Elena’s stomach twisted. “This can’t be a coincidence. Not after we found the artifact.”

Rayna finally turned to her. “You think they’re connected?”

Elena hesitated. “The orb—it’s like nothing we’ve seen before. What if it’s a beacon? A signal we triggered?”

Before Rayna could reply, the room dimmed. A deep, resonant hum filled the air, making the glass walls vibrate.

“What is that?” someone shouted.

On the screen, the alien ships stopped moving. Then, in unison, they projected beams of light into the atmosphere, forming intricate geometric patterns. The hum grew louder.

Elena’s breath quickened. “It’s communication. They’re trying to—”

The lights converged, and in an instant, the colony’s systems shut down. Darkness enveloped them, pierced only by the red emergency lights.

“Elena?” Rayna’s voice was tight.

Before she could answer, the orb in Elena’s lab appeared on the central screen, glowing brighter than ever. And then, to everyone’s shock, it spoke.

“You have awoken the Cycle. Return, or be consumed.”

The hum turned into a deafening roar. The alien ships began descending, their forms shifting into something almost organic.

“Elena,” Rayna said urgently, grabbing her by the shoulders. “What do we do?”

Elena’s mind raced. “If this is a Cycle, maybe it’s happened before. Maybe the artifact can stop it.”

Rayna nodded. “Then we fight to buy you time.”

As Rayna issued commands to defend the colony, Elena sprinted back to her lab. The orb’s glow was now blinding, its surface shifting like liquid.

“Alright,” she whispered. “What are you? And how do I end this?”

The orb pulsed, and a faint voice whispered back, as if from inside her mind.

“The Cycle must complete. Or all will fall.”

Elena stared, her pulse racing. There was no time for doubt. Only action.