Earths Horizon

  Chapter 5: Corporal Sarai  “Echo” Hernandez Chapter 5: Corporal Sarai “Echo” Hernandez Sarai sat strapped into her seat, fingers drumming lightly against her harness. The mission clock ticked down, each second a steady drumbeat in her ears. She inhaled deeply, running through the final pre-flight checklist in her mind, double-checking every procedure. No mistakes. No hesitation. The mission clock ticked down in front of her, every second bringing them closer to liftoff. She had been through hundreds of drills, trained for every possible failure scenario, but this was the real thing. No resets. No do-overs. The steady hum of the ship’s systems vibrated through the cabin, the quiet before the storm. Around her, the rest of the team was making their own final preparations. Gabe was muttering to himself as he ran yet another systems check, while Aurora double-checked the biological cargo logs. Noah, ever the steady presence, sat relaxed, his fingers tapping rhythmically against...

Chapter 11: Corporal Sarai "Echo" Hernandez Sarai sat in the cramped engineering bay, eyes locked on the fluctuating readings scrolling across her display. She tapped a few commands, adjusting pressure thresholds, rerouting power to stabilizers, and logging the irregularities like she was supposed to. Like she didn’t already know exactly what was happening. Because she did. The ship wasn’t malfunctioning. The pressure shifts weren’t a mystery. The slow drag they were experiencing wasn’t some unknown anomaly. It was the warp drive. She kept her expression neutral as she listened to Gabe’s latest report over the comms. His concern was real, and if she weren’t in on the classified details, she’d probably be freaking out too. But she couldn’t say anything. The experimental warp technology they were testing was the real reason this mission was possible—turning what should have been a months-long journey into mere days. The others weren’t cleared to know. Not even Adrienne. "...