In 2147, Ada and Jan got married in a small, quiet orbital chapel above Earth. They hadn’t dreamed of a grand ceremony or an extravagant honeymoon—they simply wanted to be together, far from crowds and everyday bustle. But both sets of parents had very different plans.
That evening, right after the ceremony, they approached the couple with identical matte-black chip cards.
“This isn’t an ordinary ticket,” Ada’s father said. “It’s a full private charter of a ship. Just the two of you. No one else on board for the entire journey.”
Jan’s mother added with a smile, “‘Nova Aurora’ – intimacy class. Departure in three days. Fly to Andromeda and come back whenever you’re ready.”
The card displayed the ship’s name and one simple sentence:
“Private honeymoon cruise – Elysium Prime, Andromeda Galaxy. Crew: zero. Passengers: 2.”
Ada hugged her parents so tightly she nearly knocked them over.
Three days later they stepped aboard. The “Nova Aurora” was a small, elegant space yacht—barely thirty meters long, yet designed entirely for luxury and complete solitude. The main cabin took up half the hull: a 180-degree panoramic window, a bed the size of a living room, and a fully autonomous system that required no crew. Everything was controlled by voice, gesture, or thought.
“We’re alone,” Ada whispered as the ship undocked from the station and began to accelerate.
Jan wrapped his arms around her from behind. “The whole galaxy just for us.”
The hyperspace jump was smooth. Two hours of subjective time—enough to drink champagne, dance in zero gravity, and lie together watching the stars swirl past the window.
When the tunnel closed, the ship emerged into parking orbit.
A planet hung before them. But not the one from all the advertising brochures.
Instead of emerald oceans and glowing resort domes—gray, crater-pocked crust, scattered patches of water, and absolute silence. The onboard scanners were quiet. No movement. No human signals.
“This isn’t Elysium Prime,” Ada said softly, scanning the navigation data.
Jan frowned. “The coordinates match. The time too. But… there’s no base. No one.”
They decided to land. The ship settled gently onto a plateau covered in black dust. From the garage emerged a small wheeled rover—the only vehicle on board. They climbed in together and set off toward the point marked as “resort base.”
They drove for a long time across the desert until night fell. Alien stars glittered coldly and densely overhead, and two small moons cast silvery light across the rocks.
Finally the radar chirped—biological life forms detected. By the shore of a lake, eight kilometers away.
When they arrived, the turquoise surface of the water shimmered in the light of the two moons and the faint glow of distant stars. Ada stepped out first. She stood on the shore, breathing in the damp, cool night air.
Suddenly her face twisted in horror.
