The first thing Rachel noticed when she stepped through the pod bay doors was a few dust motes dancing in the thin beam of her flashlight. The dust should not have been dancing—a hulk of this size, floating for this long, would normally have vented its air by now. Rachel checked the readout on her suit’s HUD and was surprised to see that not only did the ship still possess an atmosphere, but said atmosphere was apparently clean. Tentatively, Rachel removed her helmet. The air was cold, but fresher even than the air on her own ship.

With no helmet on, Rachel was more surprised to find the ship utterly silent—if there was an air circulation system functioning, it made no noise at all. The immensity of the space meant her flashlight barely reached the walls, giving the structure a cave-like feeling. Rachel found herself wishing the ship’s lights were on, if only for the darkness to feel less oppressive. As if in answer to her thoughts, her flashlight reflected off a panel helpfully marked “Lighting.”