Chapter 3: Gander Arrives Like a Warning

Samwell's sentence ended without ending — he stopped mid-word, the way a man stops when he hears something behind him that reorders his priorities.

Farro heard it too.

Not the deliberate patience from outside — that had been moving through the upper tiers, measured and unhurried. This was different. This was the forward boarding ramp engaging without authorization, the magnetic seal breaking in the sequence that meant someone had a compatible access code or a very good override, and the particular hydraulic exhale of the ramp extending sounded, in the sudden stillness of the bunk bay, like a held breath finally released.