Chapter 8 · The Door That Won't Finish Opening

The hydraulics kicked and the airlock door slammed a foot into my shoulder before it finished its cycle, and then it just... stopped. Half open. Red light bleeding through the gap.

"That's not zero," I said. "That's stuck."

"Harlan doesn't do stuck." Dean's voice was flat, but his hand was already on my chest, pushing me back from the gap like I was the one who needed containing. "He does exactly what he wants you to see."

The gap widened another six inches with a shriek of metal, and a shape came through it sideways, one arm first, like he'd been shoved.

Captain Harlan. Not remote. Not a voice on a panel. A body, breathing hard, badge crooked on his chest, IA folder crushed under one arm like he'd been running with it.

"Ward." He said my name like it cost him something. "You need to hand over the board logs. Now. Before this gets—"

I didn't let him finish. I don't know what took over — the bite still throbbing under the gauze Dean had taped on two hours ago, the leak draft still glowing on my screen with a timestamp that made my stomach drop, the fact that this man had been sitting on that draft since before the seal even went red —