“She said we were being studied,” I reply.
“That’s the same problem.”
“No,” I say quietly. “It’s not.”
He tilts his head. “Explain.”
“Predictable means we’re easy to counter,” I say. “Being studied means we’re worth the effort.”
He exhales, the sound short and sharp as the base grows larger beneath us. “That doesn’t make it better.”
“No,” I agree.
The silence stretches, filled by the steady hum of the ship and the faint vibration beneath our feet as we drop into final approach.
“You’re gonna fight it,” he says.
“Yes.”
“Why.”
“Because it changes everything,” I say.
He nods once. “Yeah,” he says. “That’s the point.”
The docking sequence engages with a low, resonant vibration that travels through the frame, the shift from descent to contact felt through the floor as the air cycles again, thinning slightlybefore stabilizing. When the ramp opens, cooler air spills in, carrying the metallic scent of the base along with a sharper edge of recycled atmosphere that settles against my skin.
Movement resumes around us immediately, but the rhythm is different now, the pauses longer, the glances sharper, the awareness more deliberate.
“Morale dipped,” Vihl says as we move through the corridor.
“It’ll stabilize,” I reply.
“Or it won’t,” he says.
I don’t answer as we step into operations, the room quieting just enough to mark our presence, attention shifting in a way that feels more cautious than before. The glow of the displays reflects off the surfaces around us, data already moving, already adjusting, but the undercurrent of the room feels tighter.
I step to the central console, pulling up the raid data, the numbers resolving into patterns that don’t need explanation.
“She called it,” Vihl says.
“Yes,” I reply.
“And you didn’t listen.”
“I didn’t commit,” I say.
He watches me for a moment. “That’s the same thing out there.”
I don’t answer, because I know it is.
I pull up the alternate route, overlaying it against what happened, the differences revealing themselves immediately in timing, spacing, and flow.
“You see it now,” he says.
“Yes.”
“You gonna test it.”
