“Right.” Roberts scuffed his boot clean on the wall as he stepped over the mess and followed the marines up the access route.

Clearing the empty decks step by step was unnerving for men used to ships that thrummed with life and power; the lack of either in these corridors left them looking constantly over their shoulders for whatever it was that they’d missed in the first pass.

The bridge was up three decks and back twenty meters, but they found it quickly all the same. The access doors were sealed tight, forcing them to use cutters with mixed results. Certainly, they were able to burn through the door, but it was harder than Roberts would have expected, given the thickness of the armor. While the hallways were empty and deserted, the bridge was not. Bodies of the crew were slumped over their consoles—barely recognizable as such, but definitely the crew. They were mummy-like husks, all in the same utilitarian gold uniform.

“My God,” one of the soldiers said, obviously gagging in his suit.

“Help him,” Roberts directed another to help the soldier back to the shuttle. “What in the hell happened to them?”

“I don’t know.” The tech’s voice relayed a grimness that matched the sight before them.

The bodies were completely desiccated, their skin reduced to leather on their bones, their hair waving about in the slightest breeze. Their eyes—or where their eyes should have been—were black sunken pits.

“No water or other liquids are present…But it’s more than that. Their cell structure seems to have been ruptured. I’d say the loss of bodily fluids was a side effect, sir,” the technician said.

“Go on,” Roberts said.

“If it weren’t for the state of the wreckage, I’d say that they’ve been here a long time. Internal heat, air, and other traces say otherwise, though.”

“They look human,” Roberts said, stepping around the bodies.

“Don’t read too much into that, sir,” the technician said. “We tend to see humans in everything. It’s a known evolutionary trait that helps children recognize their parents instinctively. It’s the same trait that causes people to see faces in things like burnt toast or think that baby anythings are cute. As messed up as these bodies are, it’s hard to say what they looked like when they were alive.”

Roberts just shook his head and stepped up beside the second tech, who was trying to interface with the ship’s computer. “Any luck, Macklin?”

The tech shook his head. “No, sir. The computer’s either beyond the tools I’m using or it’s completely scrambled. Given the state of things around here, I wouldn’t take any bets on which one it is.”

Roberts was looking over the central seat, apparently the captain’s position. He marveled at the similarities to the Odyssey in its layout and dimensions. Whoever these people were, they certainly seemed to be as close to human as you got.

“Commander Roberts.”

His back inadvertently snapped straighter as he heard the captain’s voice over the induction set on his jaw.