POV: Danny“Suit checked, systems green,” the technical voice echoes through the platform speakers.I stand on the walkway leading to the Helix-7, the flight suit heavy on my shoulders, Piotr’s watch hidden beneath my sleeve.Launch day had finally arrived.The team buzzes around me. Raj checking the last bits of navigation data, Alyssa adjusting the comms systems, Dr. Jun holding his biological samples.And then I see him.Kovac crosses the yard like a ship cutting through waves, the technicians parting to let him pass. His dress uniform is immaculate, but there’s something different today—a tension in his shoulders that wasn’t there before.“Great Hero,” I greet, saluting.He skips protocol and walks straight to me, lifting his hands to adjust my helmet with precise movements. His fingers are cold against the back of my neck.“You ready?” my mentor asks, just low enough for me to hear.More than ever, I want to say something meaningful, something worthy of the moment. But all that c

POV: DannyThe red shapes appear in my vision again.Danger.I blink to push them away, but it doesn't help.Alyssa insists:“Danny.”The nervousness, the disjointed information, and that damn feeling of not knowing what's happening quickly turn into anger.“It’s Commander to you,” I snapped.Jun flinches, but Alyssa merely lifts her chin slightly, as if trying hard not to insult me right then and there.“Very well. Commander,” she says my title with a slight tone of mockery, “what the hell is going on with this mission?”I glance at the clock. I take a deep breath.“Kovac sent me here not just because of my skills.”“What do you mean by that?”I feel my eyes burn with the tears that threaten to roll down my face.“He came to my house. That’s when he gave me this.” I point to the watch....TWO WEEKS BEFOREI look at the object in my hand. It’s a simple, analog watch, and apparently quite worn. Kovac, sitting across from me on the couch, says nothing as I carefully inspect it.Traces

POV: DannyThe main laboratory of the lunar module was colder than usual. Or maybe it was just the tremor that hadn't stopped running through my bones since I woke up.Lena had insisted that I stay in quarantine for another 24 hours, but the clock on my wrist kept vibrating - 4:23, 4:23, 4:23 - like an anxious heartbeat against my skin.Raj was typing frantically on his terminal when I entered, his fingers creating an irregular rhythm that mixed with the distorted music only I (and now Jun) seemed to hear."Commander!" He stood up so quickly he knocked over his chair. "You should be—""Where are the samples?" I cut him off, ignoring the throbbing pain behind my eyes.Raj exchanged a glance with Alyssa, who was watching from her position near the air filters. Her arms were crossed, and her face, usually so expressive, was void of any emotion."In containment chamber B," Raj replied, lowering his voice. "But you need to see this first."He spun his datapad in my direction. The images sh

POV: DannyThe main corridor pulsed with an eerie bluish light, illuminated by Jun’s transforming body.His footsteps echoed with a strangely metallic ring, as if his feet had already begun to solidify. When he turned to us, the sight made my stomach churn.His eyes were no longer eyes, but two perfect crystals, as deep as the vacuum of space.“You still don’t get it, do you?” Jun raised his hands, where his fingers had fused into sharp crystalline structures. “We are witnessing the birth of a new era!”Pale and frozen in place, none of us could even react as our scientist began pacing in circles, his movements disturbingly fluid for someone half-petrified. Every word was broken by nervous laughter.“For decades, humanity has crawled through petty conflicts! Wars for oil, land, foolish ideologies!” His chest heaved violently. “But Helium-3... Helium-3 changes everything!”He smashed a control panel with a punch, shards of metal failing to harm his crystallized hand.“Imagine a world w

POV: DannyThe lab smelled like blood and chemicals.Raj was hunched over the navigation panels, his hands trembling as he soldered exposed wires. The wound on his back already showed bluish veins, but he kept working.“Five… five more minutes,” he coughed, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a soot-stained arm. “I can restore the temperature controls.”Alyssa watched from afar, arms crossed so tightly her fingers dug into her skin.“And then what? We’ll slowly cook instead of freeze?”“It’s bad enough already, okay? Maybe save the sarcasm for later,” Raj replied without looking up.“Yes, like at the time of our death,” she answered, ignoring his advice completely.I leaned against the bench, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in my wrist.Piotr’s watch still read 4:23, as always.. . .Lena entered the room carrying a radiation meter. Her movements were slow, calculated, as if each step hurt.When she passed by me, I saw what she was trying to hide: the blue creeping up her neck