by Lore Mackenzie
When the survey vessel Diaphus suffers a catastrophic systems failure, its three-person crew finds themselves stranded in an unstable orbit above MZ-656-Pelagic, a planet of endless ocean circling a dim red star. Their distress calls are met with static. Communications officer Byte does her best to remain calm for her crew—even as fear threatens to consume her and the secret that may have doomed them begins to surface. Then, something answers. At first, it appears as a distant light moving through the darkness. As it draws closer, the crew realizes the massive vessel is unlike anything in human records: a rippling bronze structure carrying the twisted remains of countless ships fused into its hull. Before they can escape, the stranger captures the Diaphus and drags it into the depths of the ocean world below.
