The Vanderlark

In the cold silence of deep space, a small crew confronts a problem that should have seemed impossible back on Earth. They’ve smuggled a bundle of alien organisms called Hyra—supposedly a miracle cure for a planetary blight—onto their vessel, only to discover that the creatures behave wildly differently once they leave the gravity‑bound system. As the Hyra multiply at an alarming rate, a mysterious erosion appears in the ship’s beryllium hull, threatening the integrity of the craft and the lives of those aboard.

The tension rises as the crew, led by the pragmatic McFeen and his uneasy partner Alice, scramble to understand why the Hyra thrive in weightlessness and what the strange gas they emit might be doing to their ship. Their struggle becomes a race against time, blending hard‑science speculation with human fear and stubborn hope, as they search for a way to stop the infestation before the void claims them entirely.