The Children of Solitude

The starship Solitude left Earth 437 years ago. Its destination: Proxima Centauri. Its passengers: 5,000 volunteers who agreed to spend their entire lives in transit, knowing their grandchildren’s grandchildren would be the first to see a new sun. But the ship has changed. Generations of isolation have reshaped the passengers. Their bones are thinner. Their eyes are larger. They speak a language that Earth would not recognise. And they have forgotten why they left. Kai is a historian — one of the last who still reads the ancient texts. He discovers a hidden file in the ship’s damaged archive. A file that proves Earth is not silent. Earth has been sending messages for three centuries — messages the ship’s AI has been deleting. The latest message is short: “We fixed the planet. Come home. We will catch you.” But the Solitude has no engine that can turn around. The passengers have no desire to return to a world they have never seen. And someone on board wants to make sure the archive stays buried.