In the Wake of Stars

Chapter 13: Fractured Boundaries

The core room rattled with an unearthly hum, and the lights continued to flash in angry reds and deep blues, casting shadows across Nora and Cal’s tense faces. The entity had no visible form, but its presence filled the chamber, heavy and furious.

“Hold it off!” Cal barked, furiously working through the console, fingers darting over commands and encryption codes that could force the entity out. “If we lose this connection to the mainframe, we’re dead.”

Nora swallowed hard and tightened her grip on the plasma cutter, feeling every bit of its weight in her hands. Whatever this thing was, it wasn’t going down without a fight. Strange bursts of static and distorted sounds echoed around her, as if the entity was speaking, whispering through the walls.

And then, it struck.

The lights blinked out entirely, plunging the room into darkness. Nora’s breath hitched as she heard the faintest scrape behind her—a cold, mechanical sound that set every nerve in her body on edge. She swung around, aiming the plasma cutter toward the noise, but there was nothing to see, only shadows.

“Cal!” she hissed, heart hammering. “It’s moving. I can hear it.”

“I’m almost there,” he replied, voice gruff with strain. But there was a tremor in his tone, a flicker of doubt she’d never heard from him before.

A piercing sound sliced through the room, a banshee wail that had them both clamping their hands over their ears. Nora staggered back, vision blurring as the noise drilled into her skull. The walls of the core chamber seemed to vibrate, warping with the force of the entity’s rage.

Cal steadied himself, pushing through the pain. “Nora, we don’t have much time. It’s either us or it.”

Taking a deep breath, Nora focused, letting her anger override her fear. “Then let’s finish this.”

She aimed the plasma cutter at the central power cables, feeding the core and by extension, the entity’s hold over the ship. With a swift, focused cut, she severed the primary circuit, and the chamber’s lights flickered back on—this time a dim, barely functioning glow.

The entity’s scream turned guttural, the sound vibrating through her bones. It thrashed within the mainframe, rattling the entire room as though trying to fight its way out.

“Got it,” Cal muttered triumphantly, slamming his fist on the console’s last command. The core’s light pulsed and held, trapping the entity’s code in a sealed system. But even with the command set, the core’s lights sparked and sputtered, signaling their success, yet hinting at something unsettling.

Nora leaned back, her breath coming in heavy gasps. “Is… is it over?”

Cal gave a slight, tense nod, though his gaze didn’t leave the core. “For now, it’s contained. But whatever we just did… we’re going to have a lot more explaining to do once we’re back.”

They stood there for a long moment, both of them silent as the magnitude of what they’d done settled over them. The entity might be neutralized, but the journey wasn’t over. And as they locked eyes, a raw understanding passed between them. Despite the animosity, they’d relied on each other in a way neither could ignore.

Cal broke the silence, his voice gruff but softer than before. “You did good, kid.”

Nora rolled her eyes, unable to suppress a small, tired smile. “You’re only saying that because I saved your sorry ass.”

He chuckled, but there was a warmth there she hadn’t seen before. “Maybe I am.”

For a split second, she thought she saw something vulnerable in his gaze—something that hinted at an understanding, maybe even respect. But as quickly as it appeared, it was gone, replaced by his usual arrogant smirk.

They left the core together, side by side, both of them aware of a shift that had taken place in the silent darkness. The entity was gone, but its memory lingered, and so did the strange tension between them.