“You need to calm down, too,” Holly whispered back, impatiently. She stooped to pick up the boy’s blanket, quickly handing it to him.

“Contacts in Biome 1,” Alexia said over the com. Her voice repeated the statement over and over.

Holly thought briefly of Emanuel. She desperately wished he were there—that he was by her side instead of Timothy—but he wasn’t, and she needed to be strong for Owen’s sake.

“We have to move,” Timothy choked out, frantically scanning the medical ward for a nook, a cabinet, anywhere he could jam his thin body.

“There’s nowhere to go,” Holly said.

“There.” He pointed at the other two cryo chambers nestled beside Saafi’s.

“Are you insane?” Holly whispered.

“If those things are just after the pond, then by all means sit on the bench in the corner. You’ll probably be fine. But if they aren’t, if they’re looking for us, then waiting in the open is going to get you killed. I, for one, want to live, and those chambers might just save our lives. If Alexia can shade the glass and turn our machines off, then maybe—just maybe—those freaky spider aliens won’t rip us to shreds.”

Holly looked over at the chamber, mulling over his theory. It took only a second to convince her.

“Owen, you get in first,” she said, guiding him over to the nearest tube. The glass door hissed and cracked open as she picked up the whimpering child up and placed him inside, climbing in after him.

Timothy pulled himself into the other one. Both lids slowly whined shut.

Holly hugged Owen and patted his back as the glass panels clouded over. She watched Timothy slowly fade from view, his eyes staring back at her.

“It’s going to be okay. We’re safe in here,” she whispered to the boy.

“I want to go home,” he whimpered again.

“Shh. You have to be brave. Your mommy and daddy want you to be a brave boy so they can see you again.”

He looked up at her with his large, blue eyes, struggling to get a hand free so he could wipe away the tears. “You think so?”

“I know so,” she whispered.

The flickering of the room’s lights pulled her attention away from him. Through the tinted window of the tubes, she could see the lights twinkle several times, struggling for power before finally shutting off. Darkness carpeted the room, and the beeps from Saafi’s chamber ceased.

A lump formed in Holly’s throat, but she didn’t dare swallow. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest. Or was it Owen’s heart?