“Unscheduled approach,” Jalen said. “No traffic. Docking bay two lights offline.”

“Bring it aboard,” Mira ordered.

Mira set the Eaglecraft’s course for home. Out here, routines frayed into stories. UPD would be a story for the crew’s grandchildren someday: a tale about a planet that sang, and a small freighter that learned how to answer.

Eaglecraft 12110 changed course. The ship’s cloak of routine peeled away, revealing something oddly intimate about deep space: its capacity to gather secrets and then abandon them like shells.