HELIUM-3

Chapter 02

POV: Danny

“My father didn’t want this.”

Piotr’s voice still echoes in my ears, so real that for a crazy moment I turn my head, looking for him in the dark room.

“I swear my father didn’t want this.”

My fingers find the watch on my wrist - 4:23, always 4:23 - while the last image from the dream is still vivid in my mind: Piotr standing in the middle of the lunar base, his NCEA uniform soaked in blood, pointing to the walls that were dripping bright red.

“Even if he didn’t want to, you’re seeing it now, aren’t you, Danny?” he had said in the dream, with a sad smile that didn’t match his bright blue eyes. “You’re seeing what he did?”

I rub my face hard, trying to erase the image, and my hand comes away stained with red. A damn nosebleed. And in a concerning amount.

“Shit, shit, shit.”

I’m trying to clean the mess discreetly on the sheet when I hear deafening screams.

“NO! NO, TAKE IT OFF! TAKE IT OFF!”

Raj.

My heart races before my brain even processes what’s happening. I jump out of bed and run towards the screams, stumbling in the dark.

The lunar module looks different at night - narrower, more oppressive, the shadows twisting in the corners like living things.

I find Raj in the hallway, crouched down, hugging his knees like a child. His eyes are so wide I can see the white around his irises in the dark.

“Raj! What’s wrong?!”

He throws himself towards me, his hands gripping my suit with panic strength.

“Danny! Please, get me out of here! They’re everywhere!”

“What’s everywhere?”

“THE HANDS!” He points desperately at the walls. “Can’t you see?! Coming out of the walls! Blood... so much blood...”

I look around. The metal walls are clean, immaculate under the dim light of the emergency lights. I frown and turn back to our pilot.

Alyssa appears from the control room, already standing, her pale face under messy hair.

“Another nightmare?” she asks, but her voice is tense.

“It wasn’t a nightmare!” Raj yells, still terrified. “It’s real, Alyssa! It’s—”

“Adaptation stress.”

Lena appears behind us like a ghost, already perfectly dressed, her hair tied up as if she hadn’t slept. Her tone is calm, almost clinical.

“It happens to forty-three percent of astronauts in the first week,” she continues, crouching down to Raj’s level. “Hypnagogic hallucinations. Your brain is just confusing the stimuli.”

Raj violently shakes his head.

“It’s not a hallucination! IT’S REAL! Look!” He points again at the wall, his finger trembling. “Can’t you SEE?!”

Lena places her hands firmly on his shoulders and starts speaking softly in his ear. I can’t hear the words, but in seconds, the tension seems to disappear from Raj’s body. His muscles relax, his eyes grow heavy.

“I’ll prepare a light sedative,” she says, helping Raj to stand.

I’m genuinely scared. I’ve heard of tense astronauts before, but...

When Lena passes by me, her arm brushes against mine. The touch is cold, even through the fabric.

“You’re pale too. Did you sleep well?”

“Like a baby,” I lie, discreetly wiping the rest of the blood off my lip.

“Are you sure?”

“I am. I’m just scared from the yelling. Totally caught off guard.”

I’ve never liked lying, even though it’s always been relatively easy for me, but at that moment, it felt like the right thing to do.

Her green eyes scan my face, seeming to examine my expression carefully. For a moment, I think she’ll figure out my lie, but instead, she just nods at Alyssa.

“Come help me with the medical kit.”

As soon as they leave, I stand still in the hallway, listening to their footsteps fade away.

Something’s wrong. Very wrong. And if there are answers about this mess, there’s only one person on this spacecraft who will definitely have them.

. . .

The lab is dark when I arrive, lit only by the bluish lights of the standby equipment. The door is slightly ajar, which is strange, since Jun has always been meticulous about protocols.

“Jun?”

No answer.

I push the door open slowly, my senses alert. The lab looks like it’s been hit by a hurricane. Samples scattered, equipment disorganized. Things definitely weren’t like this when I did my nightly sweep before bed.

And in the center of the chaos, there’s Jun.

He’s hunched over one of the Helium-3 samples, his hands shaking violently as he pours the contents into a disposal container. His lips move, murmuring something inaudible, and even from behind, I can see how tense his shoulders are.

“Jun?”

He turns so quickly he almost knocks over the equipment.

“D-Danny! You... you should be sleeping.”

His face is covered in sweat, his eyes red as if he hasn’t slept in days. I may be seeing things, but his pupils are dilated too much, almost swallowing the iris, and in the center... a glow. Faint, but undeniable. Blue.

“What are you doing?” My voice sounds rougher than I intended.

Jun quickly hides the container behind his back.

“Contaminated sample. I had to dispose of it before it affected the others.”

I clench my fists.

“Show me.”

“It’s not necessary, I—”

“I’m the Commander of this mission, and I’m giving you an order. Show. Me.”

There’s a long moment of tension as we stare at each other. I hate having to force my authority, but this whole thing is too strange, and I can’t ignore what’s happening.

“Yes, Commander.”

Then, with slow, calculated movements, he brings the container forward. Inside, the Helium-3 glows innocently, as pure and blue as when we collected it from the surface.

“You’re lying,” I say, stepping forward. “Why?”

Jun’s eyes fill with tears, or at least I think they’re tears, until I realize they’re tinted a faint red.

“You don’t understand... they didn’t tell me... I didn’t know...” 

“What didn’t you know?”

“The crime they committed against us.”

Alyssa’s voice makes us jump. She’s at the door, her tablet in hand, her face serious in a way I’ve never seen before. Her eyes go from Jun to me, and there’s a warning in that look.

“I just hacked his medical records,” she says, stepping into the lab and closing the door behind her with a soft click. “He deleted data. A lot of data.”

I grab the tablet she extends. On the screen, fragments of a recovered report, with the NCEA logo and the word “CONFIDENTIAL” stamped in red:

“Medical Report - Severe Neurological Effects (Initial Phase):

- Patient shows visual/auditory hallucinations (Grade 3)  

- Recurrent epistaxis (Nosebleeds)  

- Marked mydriasis with bluish pigmentation in the pupils  

- Erratic and paranoid behavior  

- Progressive loss of contact with reality...”

My eyes rush to the end of the report, where a bold line makes me freeze:

“Confirmed cause: Prolonged exposure to Helium-3.”

I look at Jun. His face is now covered in a sweat that strangely glows under the bluish light, and his eyes...

His eyes are glowing. Literally. A faint blue, but undeniable, emanating from his dilated pupils. Like tiny blue stars embedded in his skull.

“They didn’t know,” he whispers, the words coming out in gasps. “Kovac didn’t tell me... I swear I didn’t know it would be like this...”

Alyssa and I exchange a look. She’s the first to speak, her voice lower than ever:

“Danny... what the hell is going on with this mission?”