Retrieval Protocol

The three transformed figures advanced across the lunar surface, their movements unnaturally synchronized. Behind them, the regolith rippled like a dark ocean.

"Inside the shuttle. Now." Hermann's voice was steel-wrapped in ice.

We sprinted up the boarding ramp, each step feeling like moving through molasses. The lunar dust clung to our boots with unusual tenacity.

"Don't bring any inside," Hermann ordered, scraping the grey powder from his boots.

I followed suit, watching in horror as the removed dust particles aligned into the now-familiar symbols before dissolving into the airlock floor.

Once inside, Hermann sealed the airlock. Through the viewport, we could see our former teammates approaching.

"Launch sequence is locked," Miles reported, fingers dancing across the control panels.

"Override it," Hermann commanded.

A metallic groan reverberated through the shuttle. Through the cockpit window, Dennis—or what had once been Dennis—pressed his helmet against the glass, the void where his face should have been swirling with pinpricks of light.

"It's trying to communicate," Miles realized.

The control panels flickered, cycling through symbols that matched those from the cave.

"It's in the shuttle systems," I said, backing away.

Hermann's expression hardened. "Miles, keep working on that launch sequence. Musa, help me secure the rest of the shuttle."

In the engine room, we discovered maintenance panels covered with a thin film of lunar dust, arranged in patterns that pulsed with faint bioluminescence.

"It's inside already," I breathed.

Hermann applied sealant foam over the patterns, but we both knew it wouldn't hold for long.

When we returned to the cockpit, Miles gestured to the viewport. Outside, our transformed teammates had formed a triangle around the shuttle, while the lunar surface roiled beneath them.

Commander Alex's voice crackled through the comms: "DELTA team, we're detecting massive energy spikes from your location. Our sensors indicate molecular restructuring of the lunar regolith."

"Command, we're witnessing it firsthand," Hermann responded. "The entity appears to be transforming the moon itself."

"No launch authorized," Alex ordered. "You could be carrying contaminants."

Miles slammed his fist against the console. "So you're just going to leave us here to die?"

The shuttle's proximity alerts blared. On the monitors, we could see the transformed Ruby placing her hand against the hull, her fingers elongating and seeming to melt into the metal.

"She's breaching the hull!" Miles exclaimed.

Hermann sealed the cockpit door and activated emergency containment protocols.

"Command didn't tell us everything about this mission," he admitted. "There have been incidents here before. Teams reporting strange findings before disappearing."

Before we could process this revelation, the shuttle shuddered violently as systems began failing.

"Hull breach in aft section," Miles reported. "Engine room compromised."

Hermann moved to the pilot's seat. "I'm initiating emergency launch."

Through the viewport, we could see what appeared to be Celeste joining Ruby, both partially merged with the hull.

Wait. That wasn't Celeste.

The figure outside wore Celeste's suit but moved differently – more human, more deliberate. She was working on something at the shuttle's exterior access panel.

"Hermann," I said, pointing. "Look at Celeste."

The comm system crackled with static, then cleared.

"—can you hear me?" Celeste's voice, strained but unmistakably human. "I've been hiding in the auxiliary storage module. I think I understand part of what this thing is doing."

"The shuttle's compromised," Hermann replied. "We need to evacuate."

"Not in the shuttle," she explained. "I've reprogrammed the emergency beacon on the far side research station. Get to Outpost 3, 800 meters northwest. The retrieval pods will lock onto our suit beacons."

"What about those things out there?" Miles asked.

"I've modified our suit comms to emit a counter-frequency," Celeste replied. "It should create a temporary blind spot. And Ruby's alive – I found her unconscious but breathing. She's already at Outpost 3."

Hope flickered in my chest. "So Dennis is the only one we've lost?"

"For now," Celeste replied grimly. "But we need to move quickly. The entity is spreading faster than I anticipated."

Our suit systems beeped as they received the counter-frequency data.

"We have less than fifteen minutes before it loses effectiveness," Miles warned.

"Then we move fast," Hermann ordered. "Single file. No matter what happens, keep moving toward the outpost."

Celeste triggered emergency flares from the far side of the lunar base as a diversion. When the transformed figures turned toward the disturbance, we made our move.

We burst onto the lunar surface, the regolith beneath our boots pulsing with subtle movements. In the distance, Celeste moved parallel to our path, using the terrain for cover.

"Stay on the rocks as much as possible," she advised. "The entity seems less able to manipulate solid stone."

The outpost finally came into view – a small structure with functioning lights. But behind us, the Dennis-thing and false Ruby were approaching rapidly.

"They've spotted us!" I warned.

"Run!" Hermann ordered.

Celeste reached the airlock first, cycling it open. Miles dove through next, with me just behind. Hermann fired his flare gun at the approaching Dennis-thing, buying precious seconds to reach the airlock. Celeste slammed the emergency close button just as the false Ruby's elongated fingers scraped against the metal.

Inside, we found Ruby unconscious but breathing on a medical cot.

"She's stable but unresponsive," Celeste explained. "Her brain is showing activity consistent with complex language processing, but she's completely unconscious."

"The entity is talking to her," I realized.

A loud bang against the exterior wall interrupted us. The outpost's structure began to groan as microscopic fractures formed in its shell.

"The pods have launched from the far side station," Celeste reported. "Estimated arrival in twelve minutes."

She handed each of us a modified sonic emitter tuned to the counter-frequency. "These won't stop the entity, but they might slow it down."

A section of wall near the airlock bulged inward, then split open. A mass of writhing darkness poured into the outpost. Hermann and I activated our emitters, forcing the entity back temporarily.

"Pods at eight minutes," Miles reported from the monitoring station.

Ruby began murmuring in her unconscious state: "The void... it sings... between the stars... so beautiful... they've been waiting... so long... watching us..."

Another breach formed directly above her. Celeste placed herself between Ruby and the entity, raising her emitter. The darkness paused, then formed into a perfect replica of Celeste.

"It wants to understand," the false Celeste said. "It wants to learn. By becoming. Evolution requires... transformation."

Ruby suddenly sat up, her eyes now pools of swirling darkness filled with points of light. "The beacon is almost ready. The Great Void is coming."

"Pods at five minutes," Miles reported.

Hermann fired a thermite charge that blew a hole in the outpost's exterior. The decompression created chaos, but Celeste managed to seal the breach with emergency foam. The entity had used the distraction to spread further into the outpost.

"Hermann!" Celeste shouted, tossing him a modified pulse grenade from a sealed case.

"Everyone, helmets sealed!" he ordered, activating the device.

"Resonance disruptor," Celeste explained. "It should temporarily destabilize the entity's molecular structure."

The energy pulse caused the entity to recoil throughout the outpost. Ruby collapsed, her form fluctuating between human and something else.

"Emergency escape tunnel," Hermann directed, pointing to a floor hatch. "It leads to the retrieval pod landing site."

Miles lifted the semi-conscious Ruby, who was fighting the entity's influence. "Help me..." she gasped, her voice briefly her own again.

We navigated the narrow tunnel and emerged onto the lunar surface as the outpost behind us transformed into a twisted spire reaching toward the stars.

"It's completing the beacon," Celeste explained as we rushed toward the landing pods.

Just as I approached my assigned pod, a vision of Ashlyn appeared before me. "You promised you'd come home to us," the apparition said.

"Don't listen to it!" Hermann shouted. "It's not real!"

The ground beneath me suddenly liquefied. Hermann fired his last thermite charge, disrupting the entity's control long enough for me to reach my pod.

All four pods launched just as the lunar surface tried to claim them, breaking free from the entity's grasp. Through the viewport, I watched the transformation spread across the moon's surface, forming a vast network centered on the spire.

"Is everyone okay?" I called through the comm system.

Hermann and Celeste confirmed they were safe, but Miles was struggling with Ruby, who was transforming in his pod.

"She's... changing," Miles gasped. "The void... it's beautiful..."

His comm went silent.

"We've lost him," Hermann said grimly.

"We warn Earth," Celeste replied. "The retrieval protocol will take us to the ESC Vigilance in lunar orbit."

As our pods ascended, I stared back at the moon – no longer a barren satellite but something alive and alien. The Voidhowler wasn't just awakening.

It was calling to the stars.