With a hesitant tap on his glass keyboard, Aris initiated the playback. He expected a sensor log, perhaps a garbled video transmission from the station commander, or even a system diagnostic. He did not expect what actually appeared on the screen.

The figure turned around slowly. It was Dr. Elena Rostova, the chief engineer of the VHL project and Aris's former mentor. But her eyes were wrong. Instead of her familiar sharp, green eyes, her irises were glowing with a shifting web of microscopic, silver circuitry. She looked directly into the camera — or rather, directly at whoever would eventually watch the file.

On the screen, Elena raised a hand and pressed it against the glass of the airlock. Outside, the stars seemed to ripple, bending toward her fingertips like iron filings toward a magnet.