I love the scifi in this. Both the idea of an embryonic seed ship and the ice shield that frames the opening action remind me of Songs of Distant Earth, which is a good place to be pulling from.

Where I'm less sure about this is in the horror and, especially, the utilization of the main prompt. The beanie, oddly enough, was worked in with surprising grace, and that can't have been easy.

The story goes a chilling place, but it doesn't really indulge fear and unease the way I'd want to. It's more a tragedy, galvanized by your typical karmic haunt. Which isn't terrible, per say. I guess it fits the horror genre, because spooky things are happening, but when I read the assignment you were given I feel like you really struggled with elements that should have been home runs while getting clean executions of lesser elements. In the context of the Exams, that does knock it down for me even though it was otherwise a good read.