In the Wake of Stars

Chapter 10: An Unsettling Revelation

The whispers seemed to follow them even as they left the engine room, leaving Nora feeling like invisible eyes watched her every step. She barely glanced at Olsen, who had grown increasingly pale and silent as they neared the central control room. The silence was thick, as though everyone was afraid that speaking too loudly would invite the darkness back.

Once they reached the central control room, Cal released a breath and rolled his shoulders as if trying to shake off the eerie weight of the whispers. “Alright,” he said, his voice low. “We need answers, and we’re not going to find them by wandering aimlessly through this ship.”

Olsen’s voice trembled. “You don’t understand… this thing… whatever it is, it’s part of the ship now. It’s… infected it. I saw it. I saw it twist and pulse and turn, like it was breathing.”

Nora turned to him, frowning. “How long have you known? Why didn’t you try to warn anyone?”

Olsen let out a humorless chuckle, his face shadowed by fear. “What could I have said? Everyone who went near that room lost themselves. I barely escaped. I tried to keep my head down, keep moving. If I’d warned someone, I would’ve been next.”

Cal narrowed his eyes, leaning forward with a hint of danger. “And you didn’t think that maybe someone else should have known before the whole crew vanished?”

Olsen’s eyes dropped, shame flickering in his expression. “I was scared. I’m still scared.” His voice shook, almost desperate, and Nora could see that he’d been on the edge of terror for so long it had become part of him.

Cal straightened, his gaze cold. “Well, your fear got a lot of people killed or worse, so it’s about time you helped us fix your mess.”

Nora put a hand on Cal’s arm, calming him. “Look, if we want to end this, we need to understand what happened. Olsen, if there’s anything you know—anything that could help us figure out what we’re up against—we need it now.”

Olsen swallowed hard, his gaze darting between them. After a moment of silence, he nodded, seemingly gathering himself. “I… I think it’s tied to the stasis chambers. Something… shifted there before people started vanishing. The stasis monitors went haywire, and then it began. The whispers, the disappearances, the… things people saw.”

“Things?” Cal asked, his face darkening.

Olsen nodded. “Visions, like people they knew—friends, family. But they’d just stand there, staring. And if you looked long enough…” His voice dropped to a whisper. “They’d disappear, but the feeling wouldn’t leave. Like something was… watching you.”

The implications sank in, and a heavy silence fell over the room. Whatever entity had haunted Olsen and the crew seemed to have a deep connection to the stasis chambers, where they had all slept, vulnerable and unaware.

“We’ll need to check the stasis logs,” Nora said, steeling herself. “If it’s connected to our chambers, maybe there’s something we missed.”

Cal nodded. “Let’s start by checking the logs. Maybe there’s a pattern in when it started—anything we can use to pinpoint what triggered it.”

They moved to the central control console. Nora took the seat, her fingers flying over the interface as she accessed the stasis logs. The glowing screen revealed a complex grid of data: dates, names, chamber statuses, and various system readouts.

As she scanned the records, something odd jumped out. “Here,” she murmured, pointing at the screen. “The stasis chambers around us showed irregularities first. Power surges, unexplained glitches. All around the same time frame… right before the first disappearance.”

Olsen leaned forward, his face twisted in horror. “That’s… that’s when the whispers started. Right after those surges.”

Cal crossed his arms, studying the screen with narrowed eyes. “So, whatever this is… it didn’t start by accident. Something sparked it. Those surges might be linked to something bigger.”

Nora’s fingers froze over the interface, a chill running down her spine. “You’re saying this thing… was awakened? Like it was triggered?”

“More than likely,” Cal said, his voice sharp. “Something set it off, and once it had access to the stasis chambers, it was only a matter of time.”

Nora swallowed, the weight of their discovery pressing down on her. She had thought the stasis chambers were the one place they were safe. But if the entity had reached even there… she didn’t know what to believe anymore.

Olsen’s hands shook as he pressed them to his head, as if trying to block out the memory. “I thought I could escape it. I thought if I stayed away, it couldn’t reach me.” His voice cracked, and he stared at Nora, desperation in his eyes. “But you can’t run from it. It’s everywhere.”

Cal’s jaw tightened, and he gave Olsen a dark look. “So, what are you planning to do? Keep hiding?”

Nora’s voice was gentle but resolute. “No. We’re not running anymore. We’re going to find out exactly what triggered this and, if possible, how to stop it.”

She turned back to the console, navigating through the logs with more purpose now. Every entry she read seemed to confirm their theory—a strange progression, starting with subtle glitches and escalating into something more sinister. As she scrolled, a particular entry caught her eye, making her heart skip a beat.

“Wait,” she breathed. “This isn’t right. Look at this.” She pointed to a line on the screen, her face going pale. “According to this, someone opened the override in the stasis chambers… right before the first surge.”

Olsen paled, his eyes wide with fear. “Someone tampered with the stasis pods?”

Nora nodded, her voice barely above a whisper. “Someone—or something—woke it up. This wasn’t an accident.”

The revelation hung heavy in the air, and she felt a gnawing dread settle in her stomach. They weren’t just dealing with a mysterious presence. This was deliberate, orchestrated by someone who knew what they were doing. And the stasis pods… their only refuge… had been tampered with from the start.

Cal’s voice was icy, his gaze hard. “Someone wanted this to happen. This thing… it wasn’t just a random anomaly. It was activated.”

Nora shivered, a chill crawling down her spine. “Who would do that? And why?”

Olsen’s face was stricken. “We thought it was just part of the ship. Something we couldn’t control. But if someone released it… that means… they’re still out there. Watching us.”

The implications sank in like lead weights, and Nora realized they weren’t just fighting a shadow—they were facing an orchestrated threat, something that had waited in the darkness, hidden until now.

And whoever had set this in motion was watching, somewhere in the depths of the ship, reveling in the chaos they’d unleashed.