Elias didn't move at first.
He just stood there in the cold, blinking lights of the cryo room, holding his breath. Maeve was next to him, sitting up slowly, her arms shaking a little. She looked around like she didn't know what was real yet.
Then they heard it again.
A sound—soft, dragging, somewhere deep in the ship.
It wasn't loud. But it was enough to make Elias grab his flashlight and point it at the door. Nothing was there.
Maeve's voice was small. "What was that?"
"I don't know," Elias said. His voice was low. Calm, even though his heart was racing. "Could be the ship settling. Or... something else."
He didn't believe it himself, but he didn't want to scare her more.
Maeve looked at him. Her eyes were sharp now, more awake. "Is there anyone else on board?"
"No," Elias said. "I scanned before docking. No life signs. Just you."
She stared at him like she wasn't sure she could believe that.
Elias helped her out of the cryo pod. Her legs almost gave out, but he caught her. She was freezing. He pulled off his outer jacket and wrapped it around her.
"You're lucky that pod still worked," he said.
"I don't feel lucky," she mumbled.
They moved slowly through the corridor. Elias kept his flashlight high. The walls were rusted in places, wires hanging down. The lights flickered like they didn't want to stay on.
Maeve held onto him for balance. "This ship... it feels wrong."
"It's been floating near a dead star for years. Everything about this is wrong," he said.
They reached a small control room. Elias had already been here earlier, but now he wanted to check the ship's logs again—with Maeve awake, maybe she could help.
But the screen was still dead. No data. No logs. Nothing. It was like someone had wiped the ship clean.
Maeve stared at the console. "I don't remember this ship. But it feels... familiar. Like a dream you almost remember when you wake up."
Elias glanced at her. "You don't remember how you got here?"
"No. Just... blackness. And then you."
He looked back at the screen. "This whole thing doesn't make sense. The ship's not even in the registry. No ID, no crew list, no logs. And you—"
"I shouldn't be alive," she finished quietly.
He didn't argue.
Then the sound came again.
Closer this time.
Something scraped against metal. Like footsteps, but not quite. More like dragging. Slow. Wet.
Maeve grabbed Elias's arm. He turned off the flashlight.
They stood in silence.
The noise faded.
But the feeling didn't.
Elias looked at her. "We need to get back to my ship.
Now."
She nodded, eyes wide. "Okay."
As they started moving again, Elias kept checking behind them. He didn't like how the shadows seemed to shift when they weren't looking.
Something was here.
And it didn't want to be found.