The Initiation

A final obstacle stands in Cadet Wren Yorick's way before he can join an elite 23rd-century military squadron: a trust exercise on a long-abandoned installation on the planet Venus that is rumored to be haunted. Isolated and disoriented upon waking up from his induced sleep, Wren must rely on the guidance of his superiors to complete the task. They remotely direct him on his solitary journey through a vicious and unfamiliar landscape rife with whipping winds and extreme heat to the remnants of the former colony. His commanding officers, however, do little to neutralize his sense that there is something more, something somehow occupying the bleak geography that he traverses. This leads Wren to question what he knows about his mission, his commanders and even his own eyes and ears before he reaches the small colonial outpost, at which point his life forever changes.