Sepha asked why anyone would connect separate cooling chambers.
Imani explained that a shared line could distribute a specialized preservative without leaving traces in the individual control logs.
The line might have been installed for harmless reasons.
It might also provide the easiest way to circulate the enzyme found in the altered antivenom.
Hamish asked whether they could prove the difference without dismantling the ship.
Imani said she could measure thermal expansion while the line was active.
Then she looked at Sepha and asked whether the biological cargo would tolerate a temporary change in temperature.
Sepha told her that they would make no changes until they understood what was inside the compartments.
Hamish nodded and said he liked plans that did not begin with accidentally hatching dangerous creatures.
The depot appeared ahead as a cluster of silver tanks attached to a dark rock station orbiting a small blue moon.
Traffic beacons flashed around its docking arms, but no commercial ships were waiting nearby.
The absence of traffic was odd for a facility that supposedly handled medical supplies for half the frontier.
A uniformed supervisor greeted them at the docking hatch.
Her name was Marel Quist, and her expression suggested that unexpected inspections belonged in the same category as leaking pipes.
She checked Imani’s authorization and asked why a physician had accompanied a mechanical engineer.
Imani showed her the approved inspection protocols.
Sepha explained that the biological freight required specialist oversight.
Marel glanced at Hamish’s name on the crew list.
The recognition was immediate.
You are the human who survived the skithra bite, she said.
Hamish said he was the human who had spent the previous two days trying to sleep in a ship that hummed like a badly tuned musical instrument.
Marel did not smile.
She informed them that several refrigeration units were undergoing maintenance and could not be opened.
Imani told her the inspection would begin with the pressure gauges, not the sealed chambers.
Marel led them through a bright corridor lined with spotless storage containers.
The workers they passed wore fresh uniforms and identical expressions of practiced indifference.
One of them glanced at Sepha, then looked away as soon as Marel noticed.
Sepha counted fourteen workers in the first section and none in the second.
She heard a faint scraping sound behind the wall.
Hamish heard it too.
He slowed and placed a hand lightly against the metal panel.
Something moved on the other side.
