Chapter 16: Whale's Song - Part 2

Two figures stood before her.

A boy holding a sword.

And a girl lying in a pool of blood.

Their faces were eerily familiar.

Did she know them?

Who was she?

Behind the two children, a shadowy figure sat, its hands moving over a strange, massive instrument.

She waited for the shadow to turn toward her, longing to see its face.

But why?

She didn’t understand what she was seeing. Not any of it.

She thought she knew the two children.

She thought she had seen this scene before.

Who was she?

That was when she began to hear the sound.

It came from the shadow’s hands, pressing keys on the strange instrument.

But the sound didn’t match the rhythm of the keys.

It wasn’t music. It wasn’t anything human.

It was a continuous wail, shifting from high to low, low to high, over and over.

A mournful moan.

The scream of agony.

The cry of a beast from the abyss.

The shadow’s hands stilled, and it began to turn toward her.

At last, she saw—

The scene vanished in an instant.

She stood on a narrow metal walkway stretching endlessly before her. Darkness surrounded her, barely held at bay by the faint beam of a flashlight in her trembling hand.

The long, mournful wail persisted, a haunting sound echoing in the silence.

She turned to look behind her.

The wailing grew louder, closer, as if its source were walking steadily through the darkness toward her. The flashlight illuminated only the empty walkway receding into the void, yet her instincts screamed otherwise.

Something was coming for her.

And she had to run.

“Sonia…”

A faint whisper came from the opposite end of the walkway. She spun around and froze. The other side was a grotesque mass of flesh, spreading across every surface—floor, walls, and ceiling. Teeth, hair, and internal organs jutted from its undulating surface, turning the corridor into the belly of some ancient, monstrous beast.

The wailing behind her grew so close she could feel its breath on her neck.

She bolted forward, refusing to glance back, fleeing from the horrific wailing.

She ran into the corridor of flesh and viscera.

Each step landed with a nauseating squelch, the soft, pulsing floor giving way beneath her feet.

“Sonia…”

She stumbled over a jagged tooth embedded in the floor, nearly falling. Her hand shot out to steady herself against the wall, only to recoil in horror as her fingers brushed what felt like lips protruding from the surface.

Her flashlight struck the wall and went dark.

Panicked and blind, she kept running, stumbling blindly through the blackness of the fleshy tunnel. The haunting wail behind her served as her only guide, a dreadful compass she used to flee.

All that mattered was escape.

“Sonia…”

The faint call echoed again, and in the distance, she saw a soft light blooming along the dark corridor ahead.

With a final surge of desperation, she hurled herself toward the light.

Darkness swallowed her once more.

No, she realized—her eyes were simply closed.

She braced herself, waiting for the owner of the haunting wail to catch her, to end this futile chase.

But no sound came.

And the surface beneath her wasn’t the squishy, wet flesh she’d been running on moments ago.

Opening her eyes, she found herself no longer in the narrow, oppressive tunnel.

The land stretched endlessly around her, glowing softly with an ethereal blue light emanating from something blanketing the ground.

It was breathtakingly beautiful.

Ahead of her, a shadowed figure stood tall.

She pushed herself to her feet, turning to face the figure.

The faint blue light revealed an aged military uniform, its colors faded and worn in places. The figure’s build was unmistakably female, towering over her, forcing her to look up. A blood-red scarf covered the lower half of the woman’s face, while shadows from the glowing ground concealed the upper half.

“It’s all up to you now,” the woman said, her voice firm and resolute.

“Who are you?” she asked, her own voice weak and fragile in comparison.

“You must save them,” the woman repeated, ignoring her question.

“Who do you mean?” she asked, confusion thick in her voice.

The woman stepped closer, extending a hand toward her. Her fingers were long and elegant, pale as bone. The soft blue light shimmered on the surface of her outstretched hand.

“You must save them… You must save Esther.”

As those words faded into the stillness, a ripple of memory surfaced, like a submarine breaking through the dark waters of her mind.

A vision of a blonde-haired girl appeared in her thoughts.

Yes, she felt it too—she had to protect that girl.

She reached out her hand, her fingers brushing against those of the other woman.

She felt the woman smile.

“Save her, Sonia…”

…

“Sonia!”

She blinked open heavy eyelids, the world around her a blurred haze. Sounds reached her as if from far away. It took time for her vision to focus, for clarity to return.

Bright blue eyes and a furrowed brow, etched with worry, filled her view. Brown hair, pulled back loosely, framed the face of a young man leaning over her.

“You’re—you’re not dead,” he stammered, relief saturating his voice, which sounded strangely mature for his youthful appearance.

“Could you… maybe not hover so close, Will?” Her voice was raspy, her throat dry, and even speaking felt like an immense effort.

Will jerked back, his face flushing crimson. “Sorry… I just—I thought you were dead.”

With difficulty, she pushed herself upright, every muscle in her body trembling as though they hadn’t been used in years. As she sat up, a splitting headache roared to life, forcing her to wince.

“Are you okay, Sonia?” Will asked, his voice laced with genuine concern.

Yes. My name is Sonia. The thought grounded her as fragments of memory began falling back into place.

"I feel terrible..." Sonia muttered, raising a hand to rub her throbbing forehead. Her tongue darted out to moisten her parched lips, a futile effort against the dryness in her mouth.

She glanced around, realizing she was sitting on a bed in the ship's medical bay. The room was dimly lit by the flickering red glow of a single emergency light. The ship’s doctor was nowhere to be seen.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice dry and strained.

“When I woke up, it was already like this. Probably power shutdown hours. There’s no engine hum either. We might’ve docked.” Will slumped into Heisenberg’s chair, idly flipping through the logbook left on the desk.

“I meant me—what happened to me? I remember us going to the engine room.” Sonia frowned, fragments of memory clawing their way back. She remembered Rain being taken by a shadow from her dream. She remembered following it to the engine room. And she remembered finding something there—something dreadful.

The image of a black monolith, covered in tangled pipes, surrounded by narrow corridors of pulsing flesh, flitted through her mind.

Was that a hallucination? she wondered. Just a dream? Or did I imagine it all because of the nightmare in my head?

Will looked puzzled. “We went to the engine room? I only remember telling you about the late shift rotation before heading back to work in the torpedo bay...” His voice trailed off as he tried to recall more.

“Do you remember the shadow?” Sonia asked abruptly, hesitating as his confusion deepened. “Or… a dream?”

“What are you talking about?” he replied, genuine bewilderment in his tone.

Sonia faltered, doubt creeping into her mind. Had any of it been real? Shaking her head, she tried to push back the pounding headache flaring up again.

“How did I end up here?” she muttered, scanning her surroundings. Her gaze landed on the IV bags hanging beside the bed. One was empty, a faint bluish residue clinging to its interior. Tubes snaked from the bags to her arm.

A flash of Heisenberg plunging a syringe into her neck in a dark corridor streaked through her mind.

Without thinking, Sonia yanked the IV needles from her wrist.

Pain flared, sharper than she anticipated, forcing her to bite down on a scream. Blood welled up, and she pressed her other hand against the wound, desperate to stop the flow.

“How long did Heisenberg keep us asleep?” Sonia murmured, her voice barely audible as realization set in.

The weakness in her muscles, the parched dryness of her throat—every symptom pointed to the same conclusion. Heisenberg had done something to them.

But if her dream had been real…

Then Heisenberg and Rain were enemies.

They were hiding something from the rest of the crew, something tied to the ship’s engines. Sonia shuddered as a line from the engineer’s log resurfaced in her mind:

Our ship has no engine.

Whatever this secret was, Sonia remembered that expressionless face—the last thing she saw before collapsing to the floor. Heisenberg had withdrawn the syringe from her neck, and Rain had stood at the end of a corridor filled with flesh and entrails.

Even then, his expression had been unchanged.

How long had he known about this?

Sonia pushed herself to her feet. Her legs were so weak she had to steady herself against the wall. “We need to find Captain Holland,” she said.

Will moved to support her, confusion etched across his face. “I think you’re misunderstanding something. Maybe it’s just decompression sickness. It happens to younger crew members sometimes, you know? That’s probably why we’re in the infirmary.”

“You have to believe me.” Sonia pulled away as Will tried to sit her back down. “You’re right—Heisenberg is hiding something. That shadow in both of our dreams was guiding us to it. We went to the engine room and found a hidden passage. But we were caught before we could do anything, and now they’ve left us here like vegetables!”

Will hesitated, rubbing his chin as though deep in thought. Then, without a word, he pulled her upright, draping her arm over his shoulder.

“So, the plan is to get to the control room and alert the captain?”

“Wait, you remember now?” she asked, surprised.

“No.” Will shook his head, a small grin tugging at his lips. “I believe you.”

The corridor stretched out before them, empty and cloaked in darkness. The faint red glow of the emergency lights bathed everything in an eerie, unsettling hue. Sonia leaned heavily on Will’s shoulder, her left leg regaining some strength but each step still a struggle.

“This is strange,” Will murmured. “Why is it so quiet?”

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“Nighttime, maybe?” Sonia guessed, eyeing the dim emergency lighting.

“Could be.” Will fell silent, straining his ears. “But no snoring? Not a single room? Just Da Costa from my unit alone could shake the walls.”

He had a point. Sonia listened carefully and found the same unnerving stillness—no hum of machinery, no murmurs of the crew, just silence.

It was as though the Washington was now a ghost ship, empty but for the two of them.

“Can you manage the ladder?” Will asked when they reached the steel rungs at the end of the corridor.

Sonia nodded, though she wasn’t confident. Fear of the silence drove her onward, her desire to see Holland growing more urgent with every passing second.

By the time they reached the radio room adjacent to the control deck, Sonia collapsed onto the floor, her chest heaving. She gazed toward her work chair, spotting an orange engineer’s uniform draped over the backrest. Esther’s doing, no doubt.

Just thinking about Esther made her stomach twist. The girl better not have gotten herself into trouble again. Sonia pulled herself to her feet and slipped on the uniform. The coarse fabric irritated her skin, but at least it offered some warmth.

Will climbed up just as Sonia placed her hand on the control room door’s handle.

“Let’s hope Holland’s not asleep yet,” Sonia muttered as she pushed the door open.

The control room was empty. Maps and documents littered the floor, chairs lay toppled, and the scene reeked of disarray. Sonia’s boot crunched against something—she glanced down to find a pair of broken headphones underfoot.

“What the hell happened here?” Will asked, stepping cautiously beside her, his eyes scanning the room.

The control room was silent, unnervingly empty. Sonia stood next to the captain's chair, the faint wisp of smoke from the cigarette curling upward in a ghostly dance.

“There should always be someone on shift in the control room, even when the ship’s docked,” Will muttered from behind her, his voice uneasy.

“Whatever happened, they left in a hurry.” Sonia picked up the burnt-out cigarette stub and examined it. “Not too long ago, either.”

“Great. Now we’ve lost everyone on the ship,” Will said, moving toward a control panel embedded in the wall. “So, where the hell did they rush off to?”

Sonia’s eyes followed his to the panel, where an orange warning light blinked steadily. Tossing the cigarette stub aside, she stepped closer. “The better question is, what made them leave so quickly?”

She pressed the external communication button, and the deep, raspy voice of a middle-aged man filled the control room.

“Tutankhamun calling Washington. Respond... Tutankhamun calling Washington.”

Will jumped, startled. “What did you just do?”

“Another ship is trying to contact us.” Sonia adjusted the frequency, minimizing interference, and put on the headphones. Ignoring Will’s puzzled stare, she spoke into the microphone. “This is Washington. We hear you.”

“Where’s Holland? We’ve been waiting for a response for over an hour,” the man on the other end demanded, irritation creeping into his tone.

“We… we’re not sure. We woke up to an empty ship. Can you brief us on the situation?” Sonia’s voice was calm, but her unease grew with each word.

There was a muffled curse, followed by hushed murmurs. Sonia assumed she was speaking with the captain of the other ship, likely surrounded by his crew.

“Your captain agreed to investigate the entity in Giza,” the man finally said. “We were to wait for his signal. That was over an hour ago.”

A sense of foreboding solidified in Sonia’s chest. She’d had a sinking feeling this was Esther’s doing.

“What exactly is this entity in Giza?” Will interjected, his curiosity piqued.

“We still don’t know the true nature of this ‘entity,’ but Captain Holland theorized it might be a living creature traveling through the Nile,” the man on the other end said, his hesitation palpable. “Listen, you two are our last hope. We need any information—anything—about what happened there, or what this ‘thing’ is. You must reach the Giza control tower’s radio and activate its beacon. Once you do, we’ll coordinate a counter-strategy based on the data you provide. Keep this in mind: this entity may be a creature from the abyss. From what we’ve gathered, it’s the reason nearly every settlement along the eastern banks of the Nile has gone silent in less than two months. It’s highly dangerous. I recommend you stay hidden and avoid direct confrontation. That’s the only advice I can offer.”

Sonia and Will stood frozen, the weight of the revelation settling over them. If they were indeed in Giza, it meant they’d been unconscious for more than two weeks. The implications were horrifying.

“And the captain?” Sonia’s voice was barely above a whisper.

“I’d suggest assuming they’re all dead if you didn’t find Holland in the captain’s chair,” the voice said flatly. “It’s the custom among sailors.”

Will’s patience finally snapped. “Who even are you people?”

“I am Captain Sayid of the Tutankhamun, Supreme Commander of the Egyptian Navy. And I must reiterate: the measures I’ve provided are the only aid we can offer. Once this transmission ends, you’ll have one hour to reach the control tower and activate its radio. Fail to comply, and we will proceed with a strike.”

“You can’t be serious!” Will’s face paled further. “You expect us—two civilians—to go out there and face whatever’s been killing everyone it encounters, including our crewmates?!”

But Sonia wasn’t listening. Her mind was elsewhere, focused on one thing.

She had to find Esther.

“We’re the last line of defense before this thing reaches New Cairo. If we don’t stop it here and now, there won’t be anyone left in Africa.” Sayid’s voice dropped, tinged with age and desperation. “I beg you, as one human to another.”

The radio fell silent, and the emergency lights flickered out, plunging them into darkness.

“What do we do now?” Will’s voice trembled with fear, the pitch higher than usual.

Sonia was terrified too, but her fingers brushed against the pocket of her engineer’s uniform. Her flashlight was still there. She pulled it out, clicked it on, and its beam illuminated Will’s pale, frightened face.

“I’m going to find Esther,” she said, heading toward the ladder leading to the ship’s deck. “Are you coming?”

Will groaned, muttering as he trailed behind her. “I shouldn’t have woken you up.” Then, as if realizing his own vulnerability, he added, “Wait. Let me grab a gun first.”

…

Sonia leaned forward, peering cautiously through the partially open pressure door. The Washington was moored to a massive marble pylon jutting into the water, connecting to the sprawling network of stone walkways that stretched inland for kilometers. These walkways, carved from enormous slabs of marble, formed an intricate lattice connecting docked ships to colossal warehouse facilities.

Each path ran in perfect isolation from the others—never overlapping, never intersecting. Some rose into bridges high above the network below, while others dipped beneath, vanishing into tunnels of darkness. Sonia had heard rumors that Giza’s port was the most sophisticated logistical hub in the Sunless World, designed to accommodate the largest fleet in history. They also said it was carved entirely from a single, colossal stone.

Dozens of ships lined the adjacent docks, their shapes looming in the faint glow emanating from the city beyond. The port was enormous, its grandeur unmistakable even in the dim light.

Despite the faint lights, something was wrong. No bustling crowds, no distant calls of dockworkers or clatter of machinery. The city lay silent, unnervingly so, like the Washington.

Sonia stepped cautiously onto the ship's deck, her heart pounding with a mix of trepidation and curiosity. At least there was no blood, no corpses, no signs of the carnage she’d expected. The structures of the port were intact—an eerie contrast to the destruction she’d envisioned from a monster’s rampage.

“What now?” Will stood beside her, wide-eyed, the enormity of the silent port pressing on him. “Where do we even start looking for your friend?”

Sonia didn’t answer immediately. Her gaze traveled to a row of warehouses that loomed in the dim light, and beyond them, a six-story tower capped with a massive radio antenna. It had to be the port’s control center. She could only see its peak; the labyrinth of structures and crisscrossing pathways below obscured the rest. Determined, she headed for the nearest gangway off the ship, her eyes catching on something odd.

Scattered across the ground were shards of wood. As she approached the ship’s side, she saw the wreckage of another vessel, its hull split clean in half. The shattered remains leaned across the Washington’s deck, with broken mast ropes dangling limply to the ground.

The Washington had rammed the unfortunate ship at its center, splitting it clean in two. Part of the Washington’s bow had even pierced the marble dock, leaving cracks radiating outward. Whoever had piloted the ship must have been in a desperate hurry.

“Why the rush?” Will muttered, steadying Sonia as she descended the ship. The gangplank hadn’t been deployed, but the hull was close enough to the dock to allow them to climb down.

“Maybe they were trying to outrun the monster,” Sonia offered, trying to sound optimistic. At least if they’d been fleeing, the beast hadn’t caused visible damage to the ship.

The pair ventured deeper into the port, following its meticulously designed pathways. They passed abandoned cargo carts and transport equipment, all neatly left in place.

“It’s like everyone just dropped what they were doing and vanished,” Will remarked, glancing warily around.

“Maybe they ran when the monster surfaced?” Sonia suggested weakly.

“Look at the way everything’s left,” Will countered. “There’s no sign of panic or a struggle. No overturned carts, no scattered supplies.”

Once again, Sonia was forced to admit that Will’s observations made unsettling sense. Every item was in its place, and there wasn’t a single sign of violence.

At first, Sonia thought she would find more signs of violence—some clue to identify the monster responsible for all of this. But it felt more like everyone had just decided to sleep in their homes, leaving everything in eerie stillness.

As she mulled over how to relay the details of the monster to Captain Sayid, she noticed a shadowy figure in the darkness ahead.

It was the silhouette of a woman. She stood motionless, distant but directly in their path.

“Hey!” Sonia called out, her voice echoing faintly in the stillness. The figure didn’t respond.

“This is getting creepier by the second,” Will whispered, pulling his rifle from its strap and aiming cautiously as they approached.

The woman had long black hair that hung straight down, untouched by any breeze. She stood with her face tilted back, staring upwards so sharply that Sonia felt an ache in her own neck just watching her. Her eyes were wide open, as if fixated on something floating above—something invisible to Sonia.

Sonia shook the woman’s shoulders gently, then more firmly, but there was no reaction. Even when she shone her flashlight directly into her eyes, there was no response. Aside from her shallow breathing, the woman might as well have been a lifeless doll.

“Is this the work of ‘something’?” Will asked, his rifle still trained warily on the woman’s head.

“Let’s just keep moving,” Sonia muttered, a shiver running down her spine. She forced herself not to look up, though she had already tried earlier. There was nothing above them but shadowed emptiness. Still, the image of the woman, staring so intently at something unseen, lingered in Sonia’s mind.

The two pressed on, their flashlight casting eerie shadows as more figures emerged from the darkness. The people stood motionless, scattered around the cavern, their faces tilted upward with wide, unblinking eyes fixed on the invisible ceiling above.

Men in dockworker uniforms, merchants, villagers—every one of them wore outfits marking them as citizens from different parts of the city.

Will’s gaze darted nervously across the crowd, his rifle scanning each unsettling face. “What do you think happened to them?”

“I have no idea.” Sonia admitted, her voice uneasy. “If Esther were here, she’d probably have a theory… but I’ve got nothing.”

“Do you think we’ll end up like them?” His voice faltered as he pointed toward a child no older than ten.

“Do you feel like staring at the ceiling yet? If we were going to, it’d have happened already.”

Before Sonia could offer more reassurance, a haunting wail erupted from the far end of the dock. It was a long, keening sound, rising and falling in tone like a chorus of a child crying and an old man groaning in unison.

The sound sent chills racing down Sonia’s spine; it was unlike anything she’d ever heard before.

Suddenly, all the people surrounding them turned in unison, their heads still tilted back as if their necks were broken.

“Holy hell, what’s happening!?” Will cried, his rifle jerking from target to target in frantic motions.

Sonia scanned the crowd, unease twisting in her chest as every figure turned toward them, their blank expressions unwavering despite their lack of focus.

“Welcome,” they said in perfect unison, their voices a layered echo that drowned out the wailing. “You are special.”

“What the hell is wrong with you!?” Will barked, his voice trembling, his grip on the rifle unsteady.

“We are the Harvesters,” they intoned, their heads still craned toward the invisible abyss above. “And you are an obstacle.”

“We request that you remain still and accept your deaths.”

Then, as if triggered by an unseen signal, they lunged forward. Some sprinted, others crawled, all with their faces still tilted skyward, their lifeless eyes never meeting those of their prey.

The gunfire erupted right next to Sonia’s ear as Will opened fire. “Run! Now!”

Will unleashed a barrage of bullets, dropping the figures in front of them. Bodies convulsed and crumpled to the ground. Beyond them, Sonia spotted the looming structure of the port's control tower. Will’s shots were carving a path for her.

So she bolted.

She leapt over the fallen bodies, ducking under grasping hands that swiped at her legs. The gunfire continued to roar behind her, a reassuring rhythm that told her Will was close behind.

Then something yanked her leg, and she tumbled forward, hitting the ground hard. A woman on the floor had grabbed her ankle. Her head lolled back at an unnatural angle, gazing skyward despite the bullet wound gaping in her neck. Blood poured freely, and she convulsed with choking sounds, yet her grip was ironclad.

Sonia turned her head and saw Will struggling, his arms pinned by three men. He swung the stock of his rifle upward, slamming it into the jaw of the man behind him, but the grip on him remained firm. Even though the man’s head twisted grotesquely to one side, he did not let go.

Figures with upturned faces surged in from all directions.

It’s over, Sonia thought in despair as a large man charged toward her.

But before he reached her, his torso split cleanly in two, severed with surgical precision.

From the corner of her eye, she saw a shadow move. A figure emerged behind her, a katana gleaming in his hand, drenched in blood from tip to hilt.

Rain swung the blade in a swift arc, and the heads of the three men holding Will rolled cleanly from their shoulders. He turned to them, his voice calm but commanding. “Get to the control tower. Now.”

Will didn’t hesitate. He shot the woman clinging to Sonia’s leg and half-dragged her to her feet. Together, they sprinted toward the tower. Will fired into the crowd, clearing a path as they reached the door. Sonia threw it open and stumbled inside, collapsing on the floor while Will turned to cover her.

Sonia saw Rain still outside, fighting with a calculated precision. His blade cut a sweeping arc, severing the hands reaching for him. He spun and slashed again, severing the legs of a man lunging at him from behind.

"Get in, quick!" Will shouted, firing a volley of shots into the approaching swarm of upturned faces closing in on the control tower.

Rain pivoted sharply, his blade slicing through two torsos in one swift motion. Without breaking stride, he charged toward the tower, evading grasping hands and cutting down anyone in his path. Blood sprayed in violent arcs, mingling with the shreds of flesh scattered in the air.

As Rain darted through the entrance, Sonia slammed the door shut behind him. Will dragged a heavy filing cabinet against it, bracing it as an extra barricade.

The door shook violently under the force of the bodies slamming into it. Will pressed his back against the cabinet, his boots sliding against the floor as he struggled to hold it in place. With every impact, he nearly lost his footing.

Eventually, the banging ceased, and the eerie, otherworldly wailing quieted along with it.

Will let out a long breath and sank to the floor, his rifle falling limp at his side. “That was way too close.”

Sonia sat against the wall, her chest heaving. Her legs, still recovering from her earlier ordeal, protested every move with sharp, stabbing pain.

"Good timing back there," Will said, nodding toward Rain.

Sonia’s gaze fixed on Rain, who was wiping blood from his katana with a methodical precision. “Where the hell were you? And what happened to everyone else?”

Rain slid his sword back into its scabbard, brushing streaks of blood from his face. “It’s the beast from the abyss.”

“The Giza Horror? That sailor’s ghost story?” Her tone was biting, but her eyes betrayed a flicker of fear.

“I don’t know what it is,” Rain admitted. “But everyone on the ship turned into those… things. They walked off the deck and disappeared into the city.”

“And you? What did you do?”

“I hid in the control room. Didn’t know what was happening until we docked. Then I started searching… until I found you.”

“You’re lying, aren’t you?” Her tone sharpened.

“Take it easy, Sonia,” Will interrupted, stepping between them. “He’s a survivor, just like us. Why are you grilling him?”

Sonia bit back the accusation on her lips. She wanted to tell Will about Rain’s involvement with Heisenberg and the assault in the engine room. But what would be the point? Will didn’t remember. And now wasn’t the time for a fight.

"What’s the plan?" Rain asked, his tone calm as though the chaos of the engine room never happened. Sonia felt her irritation rising. How could he act so indifferent?

Will answered, summarizing the situation with a grim efficiency. "The captain of the Tutankhamun wants us to use the control tower’s radio to report back. He says he needs intel on this… ‘thing’. Do you know anything about it?"

Rain rested his bloodied katana against his shoulder. "From what I’ve seen, the enemy is some sort of abyssal creature. It can control the minds of living things within its range. Those under its influence lose all awareness and willpower, staring upwards without reason. That’s what happened to the Washington’s crew as soon as we entered Giza."

"It called itself the Harvester," Sonia said thoughtfully. "What does that mean?"

"It means it’s intelligent enough to communicate—or it’s pulling from the memories of its victims."

"Then why aren’t we affected?" Will asked, his voice tense.

Rain shrugged. "No idea."

"We need to warn the Tutankhamun. The captain plans to attack in thirty minutes. If they come here, their crew will end up like the people outside." Sonia’s tone was resolute as she began ascending the stairs.

"But if they don’t come, how are we supposed to fight this thing?" Will countered. "We couldn’t even get past the people outside without almost dying."

"At least we can tell them what we know," Sonia insisted. "Let’s go."

She let Will take the lead, grumbling about a suicide mission. Slowing her pace, she fell into step beside Rain.

"I remember what you did," she said in a low voice. "What are you and Heisenberg hiding?"

Rain’s expression didn’t change. His black hair was damp with blood, streaks of it lining his face. "It’s not something you need to know. But it’s not evil. Don’t worry about it."

"You’re telling me not to worry about corridors full of flesh—or the fact that our ship doesn’t have an engine?"

"Humans fear what they don’t understand," Rain said, sighing. "The less you know, the better. No one in this world should know about that."

"Why should I trust someone who drugged me?"

"Because I’ll help you find Esther," he replied without hesitation. "Because I’ll help you free everyone outside. For that, I need your cooperation."

Sonia’s glare sharpened. "And if I tell Holland everything after we’re done?"

Rain didn’t turn around. "Then I’ll kill Esther."

Neither spoke again until they reached the top of the control tower.