Page 23 of Starlight, Starbright
“The holiday is approaching,” I say, just to fill the silence.
“Yes.” He glances at the decorations. “On my world, we have a winter festival as well. Different traditions, but the same basic purpose.”
“What purpose is that?”
“Surviving darkness together.” He looks at me. “Acknowledging that community and connection matter more than individual endurance.”
Our fingers brush as we walk. Accidental. Except it doesn't feel accidental when neither of us pulls away immediately. The contact lasts maybe two seconds before he steps slightly to the side, creating space.
We reach my quarters. I palm the door control but don't go inside.
“Thank you,” I say. “For walking me back. For everything today.”
“Paige.” He says my name like he's testing the weight of it. “Be careful. Walsh is suspicious, and we still don't know who else might be involved. Until we identify all the conspirators, you're in danger.”
“I know. That's why I have you watching my back.”
“Always.” The certainty in his voice is absolute. “Goodnight, Paige.”
“Goodnight, Zoric.”
I go inside before I can do something stupid like kiss him. The door closes between us, and I lean against it, listening to his footsteps retreat down the corridor.
My hands are shaking again. Not from the EVA this time. From something else entirely.
Something I'm not ready to name but can't ignore anymore.
ZORIC
The morning security briefing reveals patterns I've been tracking converge into probabilities I can no longer ignore.
I sit at the head of the conference table reviewing personnel access logs while department heads file in. Commander Tanaka takes her position to my right. Tobias Hale settles across from her, his tablet already displaying compiled data. Walsh Burton arrives last, moving to the far end of the table. He's sweating slightly despite the cool conference room.
“Thank you for assembling on short notice.” I pull up the compiled evidence on the central display. “We're here to discuss the recent incidents that suggest coordinated sabotage rather than system failures.”
Walsh shifts in his seat. His face flushes slightly. Interesting.
“I've reviewed the asteroid field data, the life support conduit failure, and yesterday's communications array damage.” I highlight correlations across the timeline. “Each incident coincides with documented power fluctuations that Chief Martin has been tracking for three weeks.”
“With respect, Captain,” Walsh interrupts, “the conduit failure was simple material fatigue. The damaged section showed clear signs of degradation.”
“The section you disposed of without proper documentation. Chain of custody was broken.” The observation is factual, not accusatory. Yet.
His jaw muscles contract visibly. “It was contaminated by the plasma leak. Standard safety protocol.”
“Noted.” I move to the next data set. “Security Chief Hale, what have your investigations revealed?”
Tobias activates his display. “Unusual access patterns to critical systems. Someone's been testing security responses, probing for vulnerabilities.” He highlights specific entries. “Plasma torch access logs show off-hours usage that doesn't correlate with scheduled maintenance.”
“Who had access during those periods?” Tanaka leans forward.
“Seven engineering personnel.” Tobias lists names. “Senior Supervisor Burton, Perrin, Briggs, Fletcher from navigation received temporary clearance last month, and three others currently on gamma shift.”
Walsh shifts in his seat. Across the table, Hale's jaw tightens imperceptibly. Diana Moss sets down her stylus with slightly too much force. “Captain, half of Engineering works off-hours. We run a twenty-four hour operation.”
“True.” I study the access patterns more closely. “But these specific times correlate with the power fluctuations. The probability of coincidence is less than one percent.”
Diana Moss from communications shifts uncomfortably. “Captain, I've noticed irregularities in message logs. Messages that should have routing data don't.” She glances at Walsh, then away quickly. “I can't prove tampering without access to Security's archived records.”
