She checked the crew logs. The Vazar had been built in 2189. It had carried troops, then ore, then scientific teams. Three navigation officers had indeed been pulled from duty: Elena Vance (catatonic), Marcus Tse (vanished during an EVA), and Sana Gupta (threw herself into the reactor core). All had served in cycles of exactly twelve months. Rachel was entering month twelve.
But the Vazar was different. She felt it the moment she stepped aboard. The corridors were too warm, the air too still. The ship’s AI, a silent observer, never spoke unless commanded. And the walls—they seemed to breathe. rachel steele vazar
Her first night, she woke at 03:00 to a soft tapping. Not mechanical. Rhythmic. Like fingernails on glass. She traced it to the navigation dome, a bubble of reinforced crystal at the ship’s bow. The stars outside were steady. The tapping stopped when she entered. She checked the crew logs
