A recorded voice announced that an unexplained pressure increase had been detected in compartment seven.
Sepha watched Marel’s reaction and realized the emergency was genuine.
The supervisor looked toward the guards with sudden fear.
She had not planned for this.
The scraping sound behind the wall became a heavy impact.
A second impact followed.
The warning light turned red.
Marel ordered everyone to evacuate.
Sepha asked how many people were in the compartment.
Marel said there were no people inside.
Hamish asked how many skithra were inside.
Marel did not answer.
Imani opened her diagnostic reader and saw the pressure rising through a sealed connection that should not have existed.
She told Sepha that the hidden line had become blocked.
Something warm was building up behind the wall.
Sepha asked whether the chamber could be isolated.
Imani said she needed access to the red maintenance plate.
Marel ordered her not to touch it.
Hamish looked at the guards and asked whether anybody had a better idea.
The first guard lowered his weapon.
The second followed when another impact shook dust from the ceiling.
Imani crossed the corridor and removed the plate with a compact tool.
Behind it was a small control box, a data port, and a folded sheet of paper sealed inside a protective sleeve.
Sepha recognized Nerin’s handwriting before Imani unfolded the paper.
If you are reading this, the handwritten message began, the system has already become dangerous.
The message instructed any technician to isolate the secondary transfer line and open the mechanical relief channel before resetting the primary cooling loop.
Imani followed the instructions one step at a time.
The pressure stopped rising.
Then it began to fall.
Marel sank against the wall and covered her face.
Hamish remained beside the corridor door, watching the gap beneath it for movement.
When the warning light returned to amber, he asked whether they could celebrate without any creatures escaping.
Imani did not answer.
She had found the second data file hidden behind the control box.
The file contained hundreds of cargo records and a list of specimen numbers.
Beside several numbers were names.
The names belonged to people who had died in the frontier clinics.
Sepha felt the floor seem to shift beneath her feet.
Nerin had not merely discovered contaminated medication.
She had discovered that the infected patients were being tracked as part of an unauthorized experiment.
Marel watched the doctor’s face and understood that the truth had finally become visible.
