Shadows at the Wound in the Sky
Posted on 08 Dec 2025 @ 6:32pm by Captain Sabrina Corbin & Commander Suzanna Batenburg
958 words; about a 5 minute read
Mission:
The Displaced
Location: Eirian Ship
//// Eirian ship – bridge ////
Suzanna had been relative quiet, taking in the scene on the bridge of alien ship. There was so much to learn from them, from their ship. The scientist in her was excited, not that it showed, she wanted to dive in and learn, and see. Instead, she had to wait, and that is what she did. She watched as Jung worked his magic with the navigation team on the Arawyn. When completed he turned to her.
“Ma’am, we have a direction. It’s distorted, but it’s there. Based on Elaera’s cultural star names and proportional distances, their region sits roughly seventy thousand light-years beyond the galactic rim. If we can map the rupture they came through, we can reconstruct the path back.”
Elaera touched two fingers to her chest, a gesture of gratitude.
“Oliver Jung… you… see us.”
Jung shook his head softly. “No. You showed me where to look.”
He turned back to Batenburg. “Commander, we can bring this to the Captain. I think we just found the first real lead on their home.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant, good work.” She turned to Elaera, “Now that we know where you came from, we will do what we can to take you back there.” Before she could say more, her comm badge came to life.
"Ensign Collingway to Commander Batenburg. Unidentified life detected, very close to the source of the displacement."
She tapped her comm badge, “Understood, Ensign, work with Ensign Myra to identify it, do not actively engage it in anyway. I’ll inform the Captain. Batenburg out.”
“We talk with the Captain now,” Suzanna said to Elaera and tapped her comm badge, “Batenburg for Corbin. I suggest a holo-connection but we need your input.”
It took just a few moments of configuration between the two ships before the holo-link resolved on the main viewscreen, the alien bridge blooming into focus in soft, shifting light. Sabrina straightened in the captain’s chair, unable to stop the quiet spark of envy that passed through her. What she wouldn’t give to be over there herself, surrounded by unknown technology and first-contact possibility.
“Commander,” she said, tone warm but steady. “I’m receiving your feed. Good work.”
Her gaze found Elaera, and the edge of her expression gentled. “It’s good to see you again. I hope your people are feeling a bit more at ease.”
She returned her attention to Batenburg. “You said you needed my input. Go ahead, what have you found?”
"Thank you, Captain. Two items, Ensign Collingway just called stating he detected an unidentified life form near the source of the displacement. I have assigned him and Ensign Myra to work on identifying, including not to actively engage it. The second items is that Lieutenant Jung has identified where the homeworld of the Eirians is.... not in this galaxy, 70,000 light years byond the galactic rim."
Sabrina’s gaze went first to Batenburg, but it inevitably returned to the soft bioluminescent glow of Elaera, still so unlike anything she’d ever seen, still somehow familiar in the quiet courage she carried.
“Commander,” Sabrina began, “good work. On the life-form, keep Collingway and Myra on passive scans only. But before we move on it, I want to understand what the Eirians know. Their people aboard the Arawyn have been helping refine our language matrix; the translator’s improving with every exchange. See if Elaera can give us context for what you detected.”
Elaera stepped closer within the holo-field, her markings shimmering in a slow breath-like pulse. “We… know the dark-things,” she said, the UT catching only a ghost of an unfamiliar word before smoothing it. “They… follow the wounds in the sky. Hungry.”
Her head tilted slightly. “But… this one is… small? Sleeping?”
She shifted her hands, palms hovering briefly near her sternum, a gesture Sabrina was beginning to understand meant uncertainty layered with warning.
Sabrina nodded, absorbing it. “Thank you, Elaera. That’s exactly the kind of insight we need. We’ll proceed cautiously.”
Then her voice softened, just a shade. “And Elaera… seventy thousand light-years beyond the galactic rim.” She didn’t bother hiding the awe. “Your people come from farther than any species we’ve ever encountered. It’s an astounding distance.”
Elaera’s glow brightened faintly at that, her fingers brushing her chest. “You… see us,” she said quietly. “Truly see.”
Sabrina’s expression warmed. “We’re trying. And we’ll keep trying.”
She refocused on Batenburg. “Commander, remain on the Eirian vessel. Keep learning everything you can, about their navigation, their starfield, the rupture, the life-form, all of it. The more we understand, the better equipped we’ll be to help.”
Then, without looking away from the holo-feed, she spoke to her bridge crew: “Astrometrics, begin modelling the projected path of the rupture. Integrate Lieutenant Jung’s data and what we’ve gathered from our Eirian guests aboard ship. I want preliminary routes as soon as possible to produce them.”
Her attention returned to her XO. “You have my full support. Are there any further resources you require from us?”
"Not at this point, Captain. Thank you, I will contact you if we have major updates." Suzanna replied and nodded to Corbin. "Batenburg out."
The Captain shimmered out of view, and she turned to Jung, "you heard the Captain." Then she tapped her comm badge, "Batenburg to Collingway and Myra. The Eirians know the life form as something that follows the 'wounds in the sky and are hungry', this one is small and likely sleeping. Use passive scans only, and keep my informed. Batenburg out."
Cmdr Suzanna Batenburg
Executive Officer
USS Arawyn
Everything fits, otherwise we'll make fit!
Captain Sabrina Corbin
Commanding Officer
USS Arawyn
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