Horror Story 2955 - what time is it?

It was not uncommon for the various comms equipment of the UEE to act up. In fact it had become a daily occurrence in recent years, since the previous administration of the UEE had been skimping out on repairs, and according to rumours, been using counterfeit components, and pocketing the money saved.

This time it was a small comms relay satellite in orbit of the newly discovered Hades 2, that had been acting strange lately. The problem was that someone had to go and physically check if it was yet another malfunction, or a legitimate cause of alarm.

The crew of the Vara, which was already at the planet in their more regular explorative duties, took it upon themselves to attempt to assist, and report back to UEE Highcommand on Earth. The Vara set course to have a look, a journey which was mere megameters in distance.

As the exploration vessel, and her crew, were getting closer to the problematic satellite, they started picking up some unfamiliar electromagnetic interference. If this was a message, it wasn't using any known format. Still, it was decided to record and store it for later analysis. Although the signal strength was magnitudes stronger than background radiation, which caused suspicion in the first place, it seemed likely to be simply noise, but no exploration vessel worth its salt would miss out on the potential.

For reasons that were unclear, the Vara wasn't able to remotely interface with the satellite. It seemed likely, then, that it would need serious attention, and so a crew member instead had to EVA out with a physical cable, tethering the relay and vessel together.

The satellite immediately started to transmit and communicate with the Vara. It only took moments, then a blue glow and sparks were seen coming from the consoles, followed by a black out as a cascade of power relays failing shut down all power on board.

The emergency generator was quickly to restore power, but even before the relays had been restored, it was clear that something had changed. Something seemed different. This was confirmed when a reach out was made, and it was replied to by UEE Starlift Command. An entity we all know today, but which wouldn't exist until some 300 years later!

At first this contact was treated like some sick joke. But since the crew were able to provide all the military grade checks flawlessly, an inspection vessel was sent to find out what happened. Of course, the vessel found nothing, and it was chalked down to an annoying, but surprisingly well executed prank, and due to the checks passing, a worrying one.

And then, following that confusing contact, on board the Vara, once more; silence. The crew checked the metrics, the state of the satellite, which was now running Vara’s power exclusively. Other than that, all seemed fine. One key detail stuck out like a sore thumb: the year was now, allegedly, 3955…

The question was no longer where they were, but when. And how…