The Last Station Standing
The hatch hissed, the internal pressure equalizing with a loud pop that made their ears ring.
Kazimir stood first, kicking the hatch open. He climbed out and then reached down, his powerful arms lifting Elara into the open air as if she weighed nothing.
They weren't met with the peaceful Pacific night they remembered.
The sky was screaming.
Above them, the Helios Station was no longer a distant point of light. It was a jagged, burning streak of fire, cutting a path across the stars. It was in a Terminal Decay (the final, unstoppable stage of an orbit falling into the atmosphere). Because of its massive size and the Isotope energy inside, it wasn't just burning—it was glowing with a terrifyin