Static hissed. Then, a voice she didn’t recognize, low and calm: “Captain, Control is gone. A pre-flare surge hit the orbital relay. You’re the last voice in the black.”
Remove failed.
She closed her eyes. Seventy-two hours became seventy-two minutes of oxygen. The asteroid was tumbling toward the sun. If she left without the relic, Earth burned. If she stayed, she burned with the asteroid, and Earth still burned. remove failed
She wired the core to the monolith’s base. If you won’t be removed, she thought, then you’ll be moved. Static hissed