Uncharted Stars
The outer systems of the galaxy are largely uninhabited and unexplored. Many people are trying to change this fact, sending out teams of explorers and settlers for new colonies. The latter requires supplies for building colonies to be sent out in advance and there is a lot of money to be made for the drivers of long-haul trucks willing to make such lonely and unknown journeys.
Rumour has it
Rumours of the "Ghost Station" began shortly after the expansion and exploration from the Vulenia system began. Truckers, about six days into their travels alone in uncharted systems began to report seeing an unrecorded space station. Some took the opportunity to stop and stretch their legs and some, particularly after the rumours started, ignored it and continued on their journey. Those who stopped, reported extremely strange circumstances. Multiple ships later going missing on the same route has also added to the rumours, suggesting something more sinister than strange.
Lights are on...
The Ghost Station's docking systems are automatic which is uncommon but not unheard of. One would perhaps be unfazed by the lack of relevant officials waiting at the dock after an automated process. Indeed, the truckers found a well-lit, clean, and inviting city waited for them inside the station. Shops played music and displayed fully-stocked shelves. Delicious smells wafted from restaurants and picture-perfect cakes lined coffee shop windows. The city's gardens were freshly watered, its transportation ran on time, and it was appropriately decorated for whatever holidays may be approaching. It had all the trappings of a wonderful place to live...
...but nobody's home
But no one living in it. Truckers realised that the streets, buildings, and businesses were empty. Perhaps that could be dismissed for a short period, but the longer the truckers remained, the emptier the station felt. Homes, buinesses, and whole districts continued to run and change as if it was inhabited but there was not a single trace of organic life anywhere.
What happened to the inhabitants of the station? Were they killed by a mysterious illness and cleaned away by the machines? Did they flee from some unknown threat? Did they ever exitst at all?
No one has ever gotten to the bottom of the empty space station.
Disappearing Act
Reports of the Ghost Station have never been subsatiated. The lack of official maps makes its location difficult to pin down. Truckers have tried to replicate their journeys but it is reported that nobody has found the station twice. Official exploration vehicles have searched the route multiple times and found no signs of a space station or other man-made structure. Many people have dismissed the rumours as exhaustion or space crazy from the extended period alone but others think they cannot be dismissed. Multiple truckers, without consulting with each other, report the same things on the Ghost Station, down to gritty details.
Comments
I love how this is somehow both spooky and warm. My husband and I have been reading Yahtzee Crowshaw's Will Leave the Galaxy for Good, and it reminds me of some of the odd circumstances that happen in that book... Not surpised it got shortlisted. Congrats!