Chapter One: Awakening
Elias woke to darkness.
Not the darkness of night, but the darkness of suspended time.
He didn’t remember lying down. He didn’t remember being cold. But the metal beneath his back was real. The faint hum, persistent and measured, vibrated through his chest.
The cryobay pod hissed. Lights flickered. He tried to speak. His voice was hoarse.
A voice answered him.
Diagnostic complete.
Elias frowned. “Ship?”
I am here.
The voice was not mechanical, not quite human. It was patient. Polite. Familiar.
Elias tried to remember why he was here. Nothing came.
And then the pod door slid open.
THE SILENCE BETWEEN STARS