A dead line hummed, then faded into silence. Aris held the receiver, its plastic cool against his ear, listening to the absence of Elara's voice, to the crushing quiet of the mountaintop observatory. His earlier desperation felt hollow now, replaced by a colder, sharper dread. He was truly alone. Fingers trembled, dropping the phone back into its cradle. The satellite dish outside, a vast, pale eye, seemed to watch him from beyond the thick reinforced glass. Or perhaps, something else watched from the shadow cast by its immense curve. He needed a distraction. Liam. The young assistant, always hovering, always with some mundane query about supply requisitions or coffee beans. Liam’s presence, however timid, was a tether to the sane world. Movement felt sluggish, limbs heavy. Aris pushed away from his desk, the ancient wooden chair groaning in protest. He strode towards the small living quarters, expecting to find Liam hunched over his tablet, engrossed in a low-fi sci-fi movie. Empty. The narrow bunk was neatly made. A half-eaten protein bar lay on a small table beside a charging phone. Liam’s usual spot, abandoned in the middle of a routine. That was wrong. Footsteps echoed, too loud, too lonely, as Aris moved through the silent facility. The hum of distant machinery, usually a comforting backdrop, now sounded like a nervous tremor. He checked the mess hall, the observation deck, even the main dome. Each room presented a still-life of recent activity, a coffee mug left cooling, a stray pencil, but no Liam. Fear, a cold, uncoiling serpent, tightened its grip. Liam was not the type to wander off. Especially not at this hour, with the wind whipping outside, threatening to scour the very paint from the metal structure. A strange scent, faint and metallic, began to prick at his nose. It grew stronger near the maintenance corridors, a place Liam usually avoided, citing a fear of enclosed spaces and the

Chapter 10: The Assistant Vanishes