While the other three members of the Titan X crew were in the pod bay, Callisto, Nova, and Luna approached Sector C on the way to the main laboratory. Callisto crept out in front, leading the way with his Viper rifle trained on the looming shadows. Behind him and to his left, Luna had their only flashlight clutched against her weapon with one hand, the finger of her other hand hovering over the trigger. Nova flanked her, eyes probing the darkness.

Callisto squashed his nerves. Forced himself to remain calm. He wanted to be confident, calculated, and strong like he was when he rescued Nova from the shark. But this time, the darkness gnawed at him, agitated him, an annoying and constant peeling away of his outer defenses. Fear of the unknown prevented him from relying on the systematic and routine way he handled things normally. It was a battle of wills. His will versus the evil waiting for them in the shadows of the station.

But something else motivated him, kept him marching forward. He was tired of playing the mechanic who always got overlooked, especially by Nova. Phoenix was his friend. But then Nova stepped foot on the U.S.S. Fortitude, eight years ago, and her first glance was not to Callisto but to his superior officer, the pilot everyone adored. Callisto kept his feelings for Nova under wraps, hidden, tucked away somewhere safe. Then Phoenix put Nova in harm's way. She lost her leg and died.

How she was next to him today, walking around on two legs, he didn't know. He could only thank Sarah and the science behind the Titan X program for that miracle.

They neared the letter C, which was painted white on the corridor wall. Claw marks sliced it in half. Black blood stained the wall and floor below the letter, a tinge of crimson still visible. Callisto swallowed the lump in his throat and rounded the corner, making the turn into the side passageway.

He had been biding his time, waiting for the right moment to make his move on Nova. That's what he did. He played the waiting game better than anyone he knew. He had to position himself in Nova's heart before Phoenix broke through the barrier in her mind and stirred the passion they once had for each other.

Callisto had never seen two people more stark raving in love with each other. One moment they were arguing and butting heads, the next, lip-locked in a tight embrace, sneaking away, doing what lovers do behind closed doors. Well, he could imagine, but he didn't want to.

"I say we take the stairwell," Luna said. She swung her weapon and the light from the path in front of them to the bottom step, and then up to the stairs to the first landing.

"Negative," Nova replied. "Three flights and too many corners to turn.

"We take the elevator," Callisto said, a statement, not a question.

Nova nodded. "Correct, Ensign Tenzing."

He answered her with a forced smile, adjusted the stock of his Viper against his shoulder and moved further into the lead. The tug of war continued in his head. He was strong. He was weak. He was afraid. He was confident. The doubts kept rising, but he maintained a mask of strength and resolve on the outside, his face hard and stoic.

Luna wagged her head, appearing miffed by his show of bravery. She would get over it.

Callisto gritted his teeth, willing himself to be firm. A leader. To hell with being weak.

At the elevator, Luna tapped the open button. When the doors didn't part fast enough, she continued to rap on it until they slid open. Now she was the one with the shaky nerves. He liked the new role. He could grow into this.

Inside the box, Nova pressed the number on the touchscreen for the desired floor. The doors closed, and they were on their way. Callisto sensed the elevator moving, but it felt less pronounced, weird, in the simulated gravity.

The number lit up on the screen and the box stopped. He readied his weapon, waiting for the doors to open—and they did—but the hallway was empty. Nothing. No Sergov. Nothing but darkness.

Callisto edged forward, into the passage, aiming left, then right. "The middle corridor is this way." He jabbed a finger to the left. "Follow me."

As he panned to each side in the extent of Luna's flashlight, an unnerving thought crept into the back of his mind. Nova's using you. The only reason she's letting you take the lead is so you'll be the first one killed if Sergov appears. Callisto shook his head, trying to rid himself of the doubt. It was infectious, like a virus in his brain.

Then he considered the memory downloads. Maybe that was the source of the virus. No, snap out of it. Be strong. There's no virus, it's all in your head.

He rounded the corner into the middle corridor. "How much further?"

Nova replied, "First door on the right, according to the specs on Lawson's eBoard."

"There it is," Luna said. "I'll enter the code."

She walked up to the keypad, which was mounted to the right of the lab doors. It was a set of double doors with frosted glass windows that revealed nothing about what awaited them inside. Over the doorway, a sign read BIO LAB.

"It would've been hard to miss this," Nova said, as Luna typed in the code.

"No doubt," Luna replied.

A light above the doors flashed green and a locking mechanism disengaged, ensued by a metallic click, then a thump within the frame.

"Give me the flashlight," Callisto said to Luna.

"For what?"

"So I can risk my life and enter first." He held out a hand, hardening his jaw, standing resolute.

The black stick slapped down in his palm. He nodded thanks and shifted his eyes to the lab entrance.

With a deep breath, Callisto grabbed the handle and pulled the door open.

The moment they were inside, and the door closed behind them, amidst the darkness, illuminated by the beam of Callisto's flashlight, the nightmarish silhouette of a monster blocked the path to the vault door. They had found Sergov.

———

"I still don't understand why he would go to Titan when all the other pods were defaulted to go to Earth," Sarah said, her voice catching in her throat on the last word. "Someone would have had to change the target destination manually."

"There's nothing there," Phoenix replied. "How would he survive for thirty years?" He narrowed his eyes. "But I guess it doesn't matter... Admiral Jax said he went there."

"Someone is there. We have video proof." Sarah looked up from the computer screen. "What the admiral didn't tell you is they confirmed it was Jake from the bio signature that the Cassini space probe picked up before it crashed on the surface of Titan."

"A space station. A space probe. This mission is full of surprises. I just wonder what's next?"

"Guess all this was classified until now," Ariel said.

Sarah pressed the pod's launch summary on the computer display. Information scrolled up the screen, stopping at the top of the page. She skimmed over a brief paragraph stating the coordinates, the travel time—three years—and the landing result. The hard shell of the pod had survived entry into Titan's atmosphere.

A caption popped up on the screen:

Titan - Moon of Saturn

Pod coordinates confirmed...

71 degrees north

337 degrees west

North Pole - Kraken Mare (Sea)

Destination: Habitat One - established 2047

Alternate Destination: Authorized by Xavier Reynolds

"Who's Xavier Reynolds?" Phoenix asked.

Sarah replied, "The man who banished my husband to Titan. The man who won't fare well if I ever find out who he is and meet him face to face."

"The habitat must've launched around the same time as they put the Arcturus components into space," Ariel said. "Like they intended to go to Titan all along, even before they established the space station."

"Another surprise," Phoenix said. "Figures."

Sarah closed out the caption summary. "Again. You're on a need-to-know basis. And until now, there was no need for you to know."

"That's a moot point." Phoenix wrinkled his brow. "So, what's next? Return to the ship and wait for Nova, Callisto, and Luna to complete their mission?"

"We need to make sure we secure the cases first."

"By waiting at the airlock for Nova?"

"No, by proceeding to the laboratory and making sure they secured the cases." Sarah popped up from the chair and started toward the pod bay's main entrance.

Phoenix stuck out his hand, stopped her, invading her personal space. "We need to return to the airlock and wait for them in case they're in route. The last thing we need to do is get our wires crossed and waste critical time looking for each other. They're armed. They're Navy. They can take care of themselves."

"Luna is not military." Sarah tilted her head, staring at his fingers on her shoulder. The infraction was not a wise decision on Phoenix's part. In the past, before she perfected the serum, she would have twisted his arm behind his back without a second thought. She remembered when she dug her fingernails into Wolf's neck in the elevator at the TXP Facility. She almost choked him out before she realized it.

Phoenix lowered his hand but didn't remove it. "If we cross on different floors, we'd never find each other. Remember, our pressure suits have the comm links. We haven't found a way to communicate without them."

Sarah didn't have time for this. She brushed past Phoenix and Ariel and hustled toward the exit to the pod bay.

"Where are you going?" Phoenix grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around.

Sarah's eyes went wild and large.

"I'd do anything," he said. "Go after Nova myself if I had to. I have every reason to go looking for her. She's my fiancée—Doc, listen to me—it's not protocol. We don't go after the other team until we're sure they can't complete their assignment."

"You're the commanding officer, but I have mission clearance to lead, guide, and direct. And I'd advise you not to touch me again."

"You're not stopping her," Ariel said.

Phoenix glared at Sarah, sucked in a breath through his nose and expelled it in what she interpreted as a long, frustrating act of submission.

"We'll go back to the ship like you recommended." Sarah relented and turned for the exit door. "And we'll wait... for now."

In the corridor, Sarah made haste to the elevator, wishing they could hurry and complete this leg of the trip, and get back to hibernation, and get back on course for Titan.

"Would you wait up?" Phoenix said. "I have the Viper, remember?"

Sarah pressed the button to open the doors and swiveled to face him. "I know very well that you're the commander, and you have the weapon, but I don't really care. I'm not afraid. I don't fear death."

With that, the elevator opened, and Sarah entered. She waited for them to join her and then she pressed one for the first floor. A moment later, they were out of the steel box and moving down the outer corridor, counterclockwise, heading back to Sector D and the main airlock. She allowed Phoenix to take point out of respect for his position and rank in the military. She understood he had the only weapon in the group, and she also knew she needed to survive in order to complete their objectives and rescue her husband. But as Sarah suspected, when they arrived at the hatchway leading to the ship, there was no sign of Nova, Callisto, or Luna.

"They could be on their way right now," Ariel said, her arched brow suggesting she didn't believe that to be true.

"We have to wait." Phoenix stood rigid, stock of the weapon against his bicep, finger on the trigger, his body angled down the length of Sector D.

Sarah frowned and started pacing back and forth in front of the hatchway. "They had simple instructions. Pass codes. If they didn't run into trouble, they should be back by now."

"We'll give them fifteen minutes. If they're not back by then, we can assume their mission is in jeopardy. Then we'll go after them."