By Christian Barragan
August 2025
I barely completed one orbit when I felt the disruption of a new Intruder. The primal sensation struck me as I passed through the remains of Baldr, as they called it. It was a small reticent planet. Its shattered rock slowly dissipated in the space around me. The first Intruders have long since left, now that their prize is in ruins, leaving the system’s delicate balance in shambles. This Swarm was long preceded by their cosmic chatter, allowing me to learn their communication.They left as soon as their prize was extracted. Now, another Intruder emerges––small, insignificant to most. A forerunner. The Swarm will follow, with an insatiable appetite. The soft whirrs of its being fill me with growing resolve. Had it not seen me before? Perhaps not. It won’t take it long to reach me.
—-
The Intruder cuts through the empty void between us. This one comes with focused intention. I wait just long enough to assess its objective. Facing it are the remains of Baldr, myself, and both Huginn and Muinn in my orbit.
I hear its calculated jabbering extending back to its source. I reach out with my weak magnetic field, trying to disrupt its conversations. I had learned much from the Swarm as they overtook Baldr. Before its destruction, I had tried reaching out to them, but the distance was too vast.
Now, this single Intruder doesn’t listen to me either. Perhaps it can’t. The more I try, the more confident I feel I can outmatch it. It cannot fathom the forces rising against it, and I’m certain it can’t be reasoned with.
I extend my field, hoping to tear the Intruder apart. I must not make the same mistake as Baldr and remain passive. I place as much vitality as possible into my magnetic field, and I see the signals from my opponent weakening. I exclaim with pride as my opponent loses its bearing and begins to drift through space.
—-
The Intruder returns with a new vivacity. Its trajectory has changed and it approaches Huginn, the smaller of the two satellites. I can no longer make any sense of the messages it sends back to its source. It’s still in range of my magnetic field, but it has changed something within itself. Some shrewd adjustment. I can’t employ the same tactic. Apparently, it has lost interest in me since I have proven myself too much of a danger to its operation.
Both Huginn and its smaller counterpart Muinn are indispensable to my being. Baldr was very similar in composition to Huginn, so it’s easy to imagine what fate awaits it.
I look inward, at the chemical processes churning within my atmosphere. I carefully and deliberately stimulate an imbalance to create a reaction of cosmic magnitude. At least, something large enough to escape my atmosphere. Something I can aim at this Intruder before it alerts the rest of the Swarm. I don’t want to resort to such a drastic change that may not be reversible, but my opponent no longer responds to my attempts. It orbits Huginn, just above its thin atmosphere.
—-
It’s taken time, but the weapon is ready. The forces of my atmosphere shoot forth, a clumsy ray focusing on the sliver of space where the Intruder wanders. I see some of the damage enacted on Huginn, but my opponent takes refuge behind it. I waited too long.
The weapon takes time to dial down, both my atmosphere and a large segment of Huginn are in ruins. I can’t see my opponent anymore. Need I completely obliterate my beloved Huginn? No, the weapon is exhausted and I have already drawn too much attention to myself with this fantastic display. As the shadow of Muinn passes over me, I am left without options. The Intruder, by now, must be touching down upon Huginn, notifying the Swarm of the vulnerable riches within.
—-
The Intruder still manages to avoid my gaze. Huginn has completed several rotations by this point, but my opponent remains out of reach. Perhaps it was destroyed upon entry, but more likely it has been intentionally evading my view. Mocking me for underestimating its aptitude.
As my orbit nears the edge of the solar system, I pick up some conversation directed toward the Intruder, from its origin. I focus deeply, triangulating the exact point of origin for the Swarm and its forerunner. The remains of Baldr still surround me, some larger pieces falling into my orbit, and I know that Huginn will suffer the same fate soon enough. Then I’d be next. There are no more options.
I reach out and extend my essence into the gravity waves around me, a force too broad for the precision needed to locate and destroy such a small object.There may be one way to ensure that the Swarm never makes it any further.
Muinn is smaller and orbits at a greater distance.
A nudge. A stronger push. Muinn—small, insignificant—becomes a weapon. It listens, obeys, departs. Its trajectory aligns with the path by which the Intruder arrived. It will take time, drifting through the dark, but time is all I have left.
The void whispers, everwatching.
I remain.
Christian Barragan is a graduate from California State University Northridge. Raised in Riverside, CA, he aims to become a novelist or editor. He currently reads submissions for Flash Fiction Magazine. His work has appeared in the Raven Review, the Frogmore Papers, and Caustic Frolic, among others.