Echoes and Secrets

The low hum of the empty training room was the only sound, a counterpoint to the deafening silence that had settled between Lion and Kenji. Lion's gaze was fixed on the holographic tablet, his mind struggling to process the image floating before him.

“This was intercepted from an encrypted transmission from Kalisto,” Kenji whispered, his voice barely audible. “It's not just a simple miner rebellion, Lion. It's a cult. A very organized one. With a symbol.”

Lion looked away from the image, but it was etched in his mind. “I think I heard about them... They were called the Children of Absolute Truth, weren't they?”

Kenji nodded, his eyes wide. “That's what they call themselves. But that's not the worst of it.” He slid a finger across the screen, and the image was replaced by a flight path and a report full of classified data. “Three months ago, Nepantla sent the deep exploration probe Odiseo II beyond the Oort cloud. A ten-year mission to study interstellar space.”

“Sent? They were supposed to have canceled all operations beyond the system alone,” Lion said with a tone of confusion.

“Wait, that's not all. Two weeks ago, we lost contact with the probe,” Kenji confirmed. "The final telemetry was... chaos. A massive energy spike of unknown origin, and then... nothing. Silence. Nepantla classified it as a reactor failure due to micrometeorite impact.“ Kenji leaned in, his voice dropping even lower. ”But I saw the raw data before they deleted it, Lion. It wasn't a failure. The probe didn't explode. It just... vanished. As if something had erased it from existence."

Lion felt a weight on his chest. A state-of-the-art military probe, destroyed. An organized cult on the outer moons. And Central Command classifying it all as “minor issues.” The pieces didn't fit together, but they formed a terrifying picture.

“I just ask that you keep this quiet, Lion,” Kenji warned, turning off the tablet. “This is information above our access level. If they find out we have it...” He made a gesture of slitting his throat with his thumb, attempting a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. “They could cut off our heads, you know? Figuratively speaking, of course.”

Lion knew that the “figuratively speaking” part was very optimistic on his part.

“Thanks, Kenji,” he finally said, his voice deep. “I'll keep that in mind.”

The scientist nodded, gave him a clumsy pat on the shoulder, and left as quickly as he had arrived, leaving Lion completely alone in the vast training room. The silence now felt different. Heavy. Full of secrets.

He was interrupted by a melodious voice. “I found you.”

Eldrinch leaned against the doorframe, one eyebrow arched and a playful smile on her lips. “A scientist and a soldier, alone in an empty training room... If I didn't know you, Lion, I'd say you were having a secret romance.”

Lion forced himself out of his trance, putting on a normal expression. The change was so sudden that it hurt. “Very funny, El. Kenji was just showing me... performance data for the new simulators.”

The lie left a bitter taste in his mouth.

“Performance data?” Eldrinch approached, narrowing his eyes with feigned suspicion. “It seemed to me that they were together... Very close together. Were they kissing in secret?”

“Of course not!” Lion couldn't help but feel a slight blush rise to his neck. He playfully bumped her head. “You're hopeless, you know.”

She laughed, rubbing her head. “I'm just saying you deserve a break. You've been tense all week.” Her smile softened. “Come on. I think Hood got a new data pack for the racing simulator. He says he can beat us both with one hand tied behind his back.”

“We'll see about that,” Lion replied, his tone returning to normal.

They walked down the hallway together, their shoulders brushing against each other. Eldrinch talked animatedly about Hood's arrogance, but Lion barely listened. She wanted to tell him. She wanted to share the weight of that information with the only person in the universe she trusted blindly.

But Kenji's warning echoed in her head. It wasn't just her life that was at stake if this information came to light. It was Kenji's. And if she endangered his team... if she endangered her...

No. It was his burden, and his alone.

For the first time since they met, a secret, an invisible wall settled between them. And while he laughed at a joke he had barely heard, the leader of Team Quetzal was completely alone.