At their entrance, Bek shifted in bed as if sensing their proximity. His movement broke the spell of their anger, each rushing to his side. Stacia took his hand, her fingers interlacing with his, to bring it to her lips to kiss. His mouth opened, voiceless, as if the structures in his throat constricted in a conspiracy to keep him silent. His airway opened and slammed shut, barely allowing a gasp, much less a further whisper. The sound of his dull inhalation would fill her next several sleepless nights. Too weak to talk, Bek appeared desperate to communicate something. The doctor scooted around them to adjust Bek’s medication. A tear streamed down his face. He gestured for his pad. He began to tap out a message.

“Wormhole sab—” He tamped out before he succumbed to his treatment, and his eyes fluttered as the drugs took hold.

“Captain, if I’m not interrupting…,” Paki linked to her.

“Go ahead.” Stacia ran her fingers through Bek’s hair.

“Do you have time to meet?”

Stacia glanced at Yahya.

“Don’t let me stop you. There’s probably some ‘Code Black / Eyes Only’ business for you to attend to,” Yahya said.

Stacia allowed him his parting quip without a retort. She fastened her cape into place, allowing the material to unfurl before she took her leave.

Stacia wound through the corridors of the Cypher. The air especially close. The ceiling somehow lower. The walls decorated with etched carvings she’d never noticed before. Sketches of life on the Dreaming City. At Bronzeville. People laughing and dancing as musicians played. A strange anxiety, or was it longing, overtook her. She turned another corner. Paki stood there. She stopped short to avoid bowling him over.

“What do you have, Paki?” She straightened her cape.

“A conspicuous amount of nothing.”

“That’s the vital report that demanded a meeting?”

“Well, to be honest, I thought you might appreciate a change of scenery.”

“I—” Preoccupied with not meeting his eyes, even preparing to rear at him for dragging her away, Stacia caught herself. Paki was many things; frivolous wasn’t one of them. Her grimace morphed into something softer, if not quite a relieved smile. “Thank you. I probably needed a break. Did you have any luck determining any pattern to the incidents?”

“That’s difficult to say. There could be a number of explanations.” Paki clasped his hands behind him. Whatever warmth of appreciation she had for him dissipated with the smug affect of his stroll. He knew something, or at least suspected, and needed to make a dramatic performance of its reveal.

“Hazard a guess.” Her voice thickened with dryness. She led them toward her briefing room.

“I don’t … guess. I investigate, deduce, imagine, hypothesize, conclude. But I don’t guess.”

“Indulge me. Hazard a … hypothesis.”

“As I examined the work logs, I found substandard working conditions. Lack of regular full maintenance as the students regularly cut corners to finish their tasks.”