In the Wake of Stars

Chapter 11: The Waking Shadows

Olsen leaned heavily on the console, his face pale and drawn. He’d been running through ship logs with a desperation Nora hadn’t seen before. Every so often, he muttered something under his breath, almost as if he were piecing together fragments of a puzzle only he could see.

“Found anything yet?” Cal’s voice was sharp, but there was an undercurrent of tension that Nora could hear.

Olsen looked up, wiping a shaky hand across his brow. “There are logs here—parts of them hidden, as if someone encrypted or erased sections. I think I can recover most, but…” He hesitated, coughing. “What we’re dealing with isn’t just some glitch in the system. It’s worse.”

Nora felt a chill creep down her spine. “Worse than a rogue AI or a malfunctioning system?”

Olsen nodded, his eyes haunted. “Yes. I remember now—bits and pieces from before I went into stasis. The crew was testing something experimental, something they couldn’t control. I think whatever they found, it didn’t just malfunction; it turned against them.”

Cal crossed his arms, a grim look on his face. “So, someone tampered with it, let it loose, and now it’s just… waiting for the next unlucky crew?”

“Exactly.” Olsen coughed again, wincing as he clutched his ribs. His voice sounded frail, the toll of his long stasis starting to show.

“You okay?” Nora asked, noticing the way he struggled to catch his breath.

He gave her a weak smile, brushing it off. “Just the effects of being in cryo too long. Bones and organs get a little… brittle. But I can keep going.”

But even as he worked through the data, Nora saw how he slowed, every cough seeming to rattle his entire frame. Olsen didn’t complain, though; he kept searching through the fragmented logs, finding clues and relaying them as they went, slowly piecing together what had happened. As they worked, the realization settled: whatever the entity was, it was tied to the core of the ship’s systems, and it had been left behind to deal with “intruders.”

“We’ll need to purge it from the mainframe,” Olsen finally said, voice hoarse. “If we’re lucky, that should sever its hold.”

But before he could elaborate, he staggered, clutching his chest, his breath coming in shallow, painful gasps. He sank into the chair, looking at Nora and Cal with wide, terrified eyes.

“Nora…” He gasped, barely able to speak. “You’ll… have to finish it… without me.”

A look of horror spread across Nora’s face. Cal’s expression was a mask of stone, but his hands were clenched tight. They both watched as Olsen took one final breath, his body going still, his eyes glassy. The room filled with an awful silence.

Nora’s throat was tight, but she forced herself to look away. “We’ll finish this, Olsen,” she whispered. “We’ll make sure it wasn’t for nothing.”

Cal nodded, jaw clenched. The two stood in silence for a moment, but they knew they couldn’t stop now. They had to get rid of the entity once and for all—and honor the sacrifice Olsen had made to bring them this far.