WOLINM

The dust settled slowly over the valley.

Sergeant Mike Chen sat on the overturned Humvee, watching the medics work. Diaz was on a stretcher, conscious, talking, alive. Three others were wounded. One was dead—Private Morrison, twenty-two years old, from Nebraska. A picture of his wife in his pocket.

Williams stood nearby, staring at nothing, his hands still shaking. Mike had seen that look before. The first time you watched someone die. It never left you.

"Hey." Mike's voice was gentle. "Sit down before you fall down."

Williams lowered himself to the ground, his eyes fixed on the b

The Odyssey discovered a cluster of stars arranged in a perfect spiral, their light dancing in rhythm. Captain Elena Vasquez stood on the bridge, her eyes on the viewscreen.

"Command, this is Vasquez. I've found a star garden."

"Copy, Odyssey. What do you mean?"

"Someone arranged these stars. Deliberately. Artistically."

Kaelen appeared beside her. "It's a First Ones' creation. A garden of light, designed to honor the cosmos."

"Can we learn anything from it?"

"Yes. The patterns contain knowledge. Mathematics, physics, philosophy."

The Odyssey recorded the star garden, its