Kaelen's pulse quickened as the darkened cryochamber seemed to swallow him. The breathing continued, rhythmic and slow. It felt wrong. He wasn't alone.
He grabbed the door control again, and this time, it responded, hissing open with a surge of hydraulics. The chamber felt colder now, almost unnatural, as if something had leeched the warmth from the air. He stumbled out, breathing hard, trying to shake the feeling that something had been watching him from inside.
He didn't stop until he reached the command deck, where Captain Mira Solen stood at the main console, staring out at the vast expanse of Vega through the viewport. Her face was tense, her fingers working through a series of encrypted data feeds.
Kaelen didn't need to speak for her to know something was wrong. Mira didn't even turn around.
"Tell me what happened," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"There's a seventh pod," Kaelen said, his voice hoarse. "It was open. No records of it, and it's empty, but it's been used."
Mira turned slowly, her eyes narrowing. "You're sure?"
"I saw it with my own eyes."
Mira's lips tightened. "Report it to R0NIN. We'll check the logs, see if it's some kind of system error."
Kaelen was about to respond, but then the lights flickered once again, this time for longer. A soft hum filled the room—something alien. Then a voice. Low, like a whisper carried through a forgotten hallway.
"You shouldn't have answered it."
The room went cold. Mira stood, frozen in place. Kaelen's eyes darted to the console. Static filled the display, blurring the data feed. R0NIN's voice cut through the distortion.
"Unknown error detected. No anomaly in cryosystem. Recommend reboot."
"I don't trust it," Kaelen muttered. "Something's wrong. The signal. The pod. This... it's all connected."
Mira didn't respond, but Kaelen could see the doubt creeping into her eyes. She turned to the door. "Let's check the other pods."
As they moved toward the cryochamber, Kaelen felt it again—a chill running down his spine. The feeling of being watched. But when he turned, no one was there. The only thing that had changed was the feeling, a subtle pressure in the air. He reached for the handle of the cryochamber door, but Mira stopped him.
"No more looking for ghosts, Kaelen," she said. "We're not leaving until we have answers."
"Who do you think sent the signal?"