Soldier Boy

In a frozen frontier settlement where the bitter cold has driven the colonists indoors, the daily rhythm is interrupted by an unexpected arrival. A lone, weary soldier steps out of a hovering ship, his presence met with suspicion and quiet resentment from a community that has long been taught to despise war and those who wage it. The settlers watch from their windows, half‑amused, half‑apprehensive, as the stranger delivers a sealed envelope from Fleet Headquarters, his eyes hinting at urgency despite the howling wind.

The envelope contains a stark warning that pulls the quiet outpost into a larger, unseen conflict. Echoes of a past alien incursion—one that razed another colony and vanished without a trace—loom over the settlement, suggesting that the soldier’s message may be the first sign of a looming danger. As the ship lifts away, the colonists are left to decide whether to heed the call of a profession they have shunned, or to face an unknown threat alone.