Reid woke to the dagger humming.
Not loud. Lower than sound. A pressure under the metal of the locker, in the bones of his wrist, in the ridge along his lower ribs where the spirals sat. It had been quiet for two days. It wasn't quiet now.
He sat up. The barracks was still dark. Iharu's bunk was empty, blanket twisted, boots gone. Morning drills. Hiro's was made. Rina's was made the way the medics had folded it, which was the only way it had been made for two weeks.
His wrist module showed yellow.
He'd gone to sleep at green.
He pulled the blanket back and looked at the spirals through the thin shirt. Warm. Not the steady warm of yesterday. They moved a little under his hand. Pulsed. Slow. Like something exhaling through cloth.
He checked the locker.
The dagger was still in the shielded pocket Tali had built into the harness. The mesh was intact. The hum came through anyway, faint enough to ignore if he hadn't woken up listening for it.
He got dressed.
