----------------------------------------
image [https://www.julianraymusic.com/story/images/chapters/1-ry/Space_Wanderer_book_Part_1_Julian_Ray_800_250.jpg]
----------------------------------------
Ry stirred awake, his mind spring-loaded into alertness as the memory of recent encounter crashed into him like a rogue asteroid. The Silver Serpent's damaged hull, the jagged remnant of enemy ship still lodged in her side—they were stark reminders of danger faced and barely survived.
He'd intended to finish repairs last night, but exhaustion had been an irresistible force, pulling him into fitful sleep before he could complete the task.
Morning light* from a nearby star bled through the porthole, casting a harsh glow on his precarious situation. Ry knew time was a ticking clock, counting down the moments of his survival. The galaxy was vast and unforgiving, teeming with threats hidden among its countless stars!
Groaning softly, Ry pushed himself out of the captain's chair; after just a few hours of sleep, his muscles protested like a rusty robot. He stretched, feeling the familiar stiffness from days spent piloting through treacherous asteroid fields, then pulled on his worn leather jacket—a relic from his elite explorer days, now more comfort and familiarity than necessity.
His stomach growled, reminding him he hadn't eaten since the night before. He checked the small compartment next to his seat, where he always kept a couple of rations and a bottle of water for quick emergencies.
Ry unwrapped a nutrient bar and took a bite, savoring the subtle sweetness that contrasted with the harsh metallic tang of the ship's recycled air. He sipped from the bottle of water, feeling the cool liquid soothe his parched throat. As he ate, his thoughts drifted to the tasks ahead. The breakfast, though simple, offered a moment of calm before the demands of the day began to press in on him.
His task was clear: find a metal plate large enough to patch up Silver Serpent's wounded side. It wouldn't be easy; spare parts that large weren't exactly abundant on his ship. But Ry had weathered worse challenges in the cold void of space, and he was determined to find a way out of this situation.
As he started to consider all the possibilities, yesterday's battlefield—a floating graveyard of twisted metal—suddenly flashed through his mind. Amidst the wreckage, he thought he'd spotted something... a large metal plate, perhaps? It was worth checking; if anyone could salvage something useful from that mess, it was Ry!
----------------------------------------
image [https://www.julianraymusic.com/story/images/chapters/1-ry/3-enigma/Space_Wanderer_Enigma_Cargo_Hold.jpg]
The dimly lit corridor swallowed him whole as he headed towards the airlock. Ry's boots echoed a steady rhythm against the metal plating, his leg feeling much better after the med-bay visit yesterday. The pain that had once threatened to slow his work was now a distant memory, almost healed.
He was halfway there when an unexpected wave of dizziness washed over him, forcing Ry to brace himself against the bulkhead. He leaned against it for a moment, breathing deeply, waiting for the world to stop spinning…
What in the name of all stars? Ry never got dizzy! Not like this, anyway. Space travel could be brutal on the body, but he was accustomed to its harsh touch.
Ry pushed off from the wall, his brow furrowed in confusion. He'd never experienced anything like that before. This felt... different. He took a deep breath and slowly made a few more steps, willing the sensation to pass. It did, as suddenly as it had come.
Curiosity tugged at him. What had caused that? Ry turned around and began to walk back towards the bridge. If nothing else, it would give his mind something to focus on besides the daunting task ahead. But after just a few steps, the dizziness returned with a vengeance, sending him reeling once more. This time, he barely managed to keep himself upright. Now, he couldn’t ignore it!
Ry’s heart pounded in his chest as he tried to pinpoint what could be causing this. He was no stranger to mystery—years spent exploring uncharted territories had honed his instincts for the unusual. But this... this was something else entirely!
Concern replaced curiosity. Ry knew all too well the dangers lurking in the vast expanse of space. An unexplained physical reaction like this could be a red flag waving high against a backdrop of potential disaster.
He paused, catching his breath, and looked around to assess his surroundings. As his eyes scanned the corridor, his mind tried to connect the dots...
And then, it struck him! As he struggled to maintain his footing, he realized that both times he had been standing directly in front of the door leading to the cargo hold. He took a tentative step away from it, and almost instantly, the dizziness began to recede. Ry’s heart pounded in his chest as realization dawned: whatever was causing this reaction, it was coming from inside the cargo hold!
Concern morphed into suspicion. Ry's mind raced as he tried to make sense of this new development. Could there be something in the cargo hold causing this reaction? Some unknown substance or material that had found its way onto his ship? Or was it something more sinister—a malicious act by whoever had attacked him?
A brief frown creased his brow at the thought. If someone had infiltrated the Silver Serpent, they posed a significant threat. He couldn't let his guard down until he'd investigated every inch of his ship and found out who, or what, was responsible for this strange phenomenon.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
As he stepped closer to the door, another wave of dizziness threatened to knock him off balance. But Ry was resolute—whatever lay behind that door, whatever was causing this reaction, he needed to know. Now!
With steely resolve, he approached the door to the cargo hold. The panel next to it glowed softly beneath his touch as he pressed it, the door sliding open with a hiss of equalized pressure.
Beyond lay darkness, broken only by the dim glow of emergency lights casting long, ominous shadows across stacked crates and containers. The air was charged with the scent of ozone and something else—a faint, sweet aroma that seemed out of place amidst the cold, utilitarian space.
Ry's hand reached automatically for the weapon at his side—an old habit from his days as an elite explorer. Now, more than ever, he needed to be prepared for whatever lay hidden in the gloom.
As he stepped inside, the door slid shut behind him with a finality that sent a shiver down his spine. He took another step forward, his boots echoing loudly on the metal grating beneath them.
And then he saw her...
----------------------------------------
image [https://www.julianraymusic.com/story/images/chapters/1-ry/3-enigma/Space_Wanderer_Enigma_Girl2.jpg]
A little girl stood in the middle of the cargo hold, motionless as a statue, frozen in time and space. No more than nine or ten years old, her frame was delicate and fragile beneath an elaborate dress that seemed out of place among the austere surroundings of hold. Wild, tangled curls framed a face that was both innocent and eerily blank; wide open eyes unblinking, lips moving in silent conversation…
Ry's breath hitched, his heart pounding like a drum against his ribs. He couldn't move, couldn't speak. All he could do was stare at this impossible figure, standing so still and quiet amidst the chaos. The silence pressed down on him, heavy and oppressive, broken only by the distant hum of Silver Serpent's failing systems.
A cold sweat broke out across Ry's forehead. This wasn't right! None of this was right! A child, here? In his cargo hold? It defied all logic, all reason. And yet, as he looked into those unblinking eyes, he couldn't deny that she was real—at least, in some sense. There was a tangible quality to her presence, an aura that seemed to hum with energy!
Ry tore his gaze from the little girl's face, letting it roam over the rest of her body. That was when he noticed it—the faintest glow emanating from her chest, barely visible but unmistakable nonetheless. It pulsed gently, like a heartbeat, in time with whatever silent words she spoke. The light seemed to seep through her clothing, casting a soft, ethereal glow that contrasted with the dim, oppressive shadows of their surroundings.
His eyes, drawn back by an inexplicable force, returned to her face. The girl's expression hadn't changed, but there was something in the air, a tension that made his heart skip a beat.
Those wide eyes snapped shut for an instant, a moment of vulnerability or perhaps a sign of gathering strength, then opened again, wider than before. In that moment, Ry saw something flicker within their depths—recognition? Fear? The pupils dilated, revealing not just human emotion but something else, something ancient and otherworldly.
It was enough to jolt him back to reality, to remind him of the danger he was in! Her gaze seemed to pierce through him, as if she could see into his very soul, and for a second, he felt the weight of a thousand secrets pressing down on him!
With a gasp, Ry stumbled backward. A cold sweat beaded on his forehead, and a sickening feeling twisted in the pit of his stomach. "Hallucination…" he whispered, his voice distant even to himself. "And dizziness… This is bad... Very bad..."
Hallucinations were one of the first signs that someone was losing their grip on reality—something Ry knew all too well from years of space travel. Isolation, sensory deprivation, lack of human contact... they could all drive a person to the brink of insanity.
But this? A hallucination so vivid, so tangible? It was terrifying. If he couldn't pull himself out of it, who knew what other horrors his mind would conjure?
Ry's hands trembled as he wiped away the sweat beading on his brow. He had to look away from her, break this illusion and put some distance between them. But no matter how hard he tried, his gaze was drawn back to her like a magnet.
----------------------------------------
image [https://www.julianraymusic.com/story/images/chapters/1-ry/3-enigma/Space_Wanderer_Enigma_Girl_Close2.jpg]
Meanwhile, she continued her silent monologue, her lips moving faster now, more urgently. Ry squinted, trying to make out the words she was saying—but they were in no language he recognized, no alphabet he could decipher. It was as if she spoke in a tongue designed specifically for this moment, for his ears alone. A silent, mysterious tongue!
With great effort, Ry tore his gaze away from the girl and looked around the cargo hold. Anything to break this spell, to remind himself that none of this could be real! His eyes landed on a nearby crate, its seal still intact despite the chaos. He focused on it, willing himself to remember loading it onto Silver Serpent just weeks ago.
Bit by bit, he recalled the physical labor, the sweat on his brow, the sound of the crate scraping slightly against the floor of the ship, the weight of it in his hands as he maneuvered it into place…
That memory, so solid and mundane, felt like an anchor pulling Ry back to reality. He forced himself to take a deep breath, the stale air filling his lungs as he tried to calm his racing heart. This wasn't real—none of this was real… It was just his mind playing tricks on him… trying to fill the void with something, anything.
Summoning all his strength, Ry stepped back towards the door, his hand reaching blindly for the control panel… As the door opened, he stepped into the corridor and hastily pressed the button to close it. The soft thunk, echoing through every fiber of his being as the door slid shut, seemed deafeningly loud in the sudden silence of the corridor.
Ry leaned against the cold metal bulkhead, taking deep, shuddering breaths until his heart rate slowed and his thoughts began to clear.
Then, with a sense of dread weighing heavy in his chest, he pushed off towards the bridge, doing his best to ignore the cold, gnawing feeling that something was very, very wrong. But all he could see was the girl's face, those wide eyes staring at him, lips moving silently in some maddening plea…
The ship felt different now, charged with an energy he couldn't explain or understand. It was as if she was holding her breath, waiting to see what he would do next. And as he sat down in the captain's chair and stared into the swirling darkness beyond the viewport, Ry couldn't shake the feeling that it was just the beginning.
The beginning of what, he wasn't sure—but when he looked back into the darkness of the cargo hold, he realized one undeniable fact: whatever it was, it would change his life for good!
----------------------------------------
image [https://www.julianraymusic.com/story/images/chapters/1-ry/3-enigma/Space_800x200.jpg]
With a deep breath, he turned his attention back to the repairs, determined to save his ship and uncover the truth behind this strange occurrence. No matter what lay ahead, Ry knew one thing for sure: it was going to be one unforgettable ride!
----------------------------------------