The ship's hum ran deep—low and steady, like a current buried under steel.
It rattled up through the floor, through the bolts, through the soles of his feet and into his spine. The vibration reached into Elias's chest before his mind caught up.
He stirred.
Not fully—just enough to register motion.
A haze still clung to him, thick and slow. The sedative hadn't worn off completely. It dulled the edges of his thoughts, left a sharp ache pulsing behind his eyes like someone had pressed metal rods into his skull and left them there.
His eyelids lifted.
Everything blurred.
Light leaked in through dim overhead strips, thin and cold. The walls around him curved—narrow steel lined with seams and black cables. A transport hull, Federation standard.
He looked down.
