The USS Galileo drifts aimlessly through the void of space, an inert, fragile thing adrift in the incomprehensible expanse, like a single, solitary leaf caught in an unseen current, floating effortlessly in the boundless dark. Its hull, once a proud and polished testament to human ingenuity, now bears the deep, jagged scars of innumerable micrometeorite impacts, each one a silent reminder of the unforgiving