The silence of space had always been comforting. Not tonight.

The capture drone was still humming when the airlock sealed behind her. Vi tightened her harness, her breath mixing with the soft crackle of the comms. Inside the transparent capsule, it floated: a figure the color of midnight sky, glowing faintly.

“Uh… that’s not space junk, right, Captain?” Sam’s voice fizzed in her earpiece. “No,” Vi said, eyes narrowing. “It’s alive.”

A heartbeat—maybe her own—echoed in her chest. She keyed the inner hatch and stepped into the sterile chamber. The body drifted weightless, antennae glinting under the cold lights, black hair spreading like an orbit of night.

Slow and careful, Vi reached out and drew the stranger toward her. Warm. Unexpectedly warm.

“Quarantine, now,” she told the team, voice softer than she meant. “Don’t worry… I’ve got you.”

She eased the alien down onto the observation cot, her own heart still somewhere between fear and wonder. A faint shiver. Gold and ink-dark eyes fluttered open.