The Captain's Smile
Captain Vey's office smells like recycled lavender and cold metal. She pockets the data-chip with a smile that doesn't reach her eyes, praises your loyalty, and reassigns you to observation duty—away from the corridors, away from Idris.
That night, the soft hum outside your bunk isn't the ventilation. Through the porthole slit, you see it: a security drone, lenses glowing faint red, hovering with patient, mechanical attention. Watching you.