Lost in the Future

Humanity has finally conquered hyperspace, and Captain [unnamed] and Harry Albrecht are making history as they descend toward the first inhabited planet orbiting Alpha Centauri. The world appears remarkably familiar: breathable air, towering cities, busy airways, and advanced aircraft. Yet its inhabitants show no reaction to the visitors, while every receiver and radar remains inexplicably silent.

On the ground, the mystery becomes deeply unsettling. The explorers can see people talking and watch ships crossing the sky, but they hear nothing—not even the sounds their surroundings should carry. As the evidence accumulates, they realize their journey has produced a dangerous consequence: by exceeding the speed of light in ordinary space-time, they may have arrived moments ahead of the world around them. Now they must understand the strange temporal gap separating them from an entire civilization—and find a way to return before the distance between present and future becomes impossible to cross.