OPERATION GHOST RIG

THE MAN IN THE WHITE ROOM

The words didn't make sense.

Elias stared at Ava, waiting for her to laugh, to say it was a mistake. But her eyes were steady, and her hands were still trembling.

"You're wrong," he said. "I've never seen you before this rig."

Ava shook her head slowly. "I know what I saw. The man in the white room... he had your face. Your voice. He asked me questions about my past. About my fears. About the bombing."

"Ava, I don't remember any of that."

"Neither did I. Not until now." She pulled her knees to her chest, hugging herself. "The gas. It unlocked something. The memory was buried, but now it's back. And I remember you."

Elias's mind raced. The gas. The white room. The vision he'd had while unconscious. The man in the gray suit with the blurry face. Could that have been him? Could he have been part of the experiment before he woke up?

The thought made his stomach turn.

"Listen to me," he said. "I woke up on this rig with no memory, just like you. I don't know who brought us here. I don't know what they did to us. But I am not your enemy."

"Then why do I remember you?"

"I don't know. Maybe they drugged you. Maybe they showed you images. Maybe they manipulated your memories." He reached for her hand, but she pulled away. "Ava, think. Why would I be here as a prisoner if I was working with them?"

"Maybe you're not a prisoner." Her voice was barely a whisper. "Maybe you're the one running the experiment."

The accusation hit like a blade. Elias felt the air leave his lungs. The distrust in her eyes was worse than any physical wound.

But before he could respond, a sound cut through the helicopter. A crackle of static from the radio on his belt.

"Vance." Asher's voice. Calm, mocking. "I hope you're enjoying the reunion. The doctor's memory is coming back faster than expected. Soon she'll remember everything. And then she'll know the truth."

Elias grabbed the radio. "What truth?"

"That you volunteered." Asher's tone was smooth. "You came to us willingly, Mr. Vance. You wanted to forget your past. We gave you that chance. But every gift has a price."

"You're lying."

"Am I? Ask yourself why you woke up first. Why you were placed in a cabin alone. Why you had access to the rig's layout before anyone else." Asher paused. "It's because you're one of us."

Ava's eyes widened. She scrambled away from him, pressing herself against the helicopter door.

"Ava, don't listen to him," Elias said. "He's trying to turn us against each other."

"Maybe he's telling the truth," she said. "Maybe that's why you've been so calm. Why you knew how to fight. Why you took charge so easily."

"Because I'm a soldier. That's what I do."

"Or because you designed this place." She reached for the door handle. "Stay away from me."

"Ava, wait—"

She threw open the door and ran. The helipad was slick with rain, and the wind howled around her. She ran toward the nearest structure, a service ladder that led to the lower decks.

Elias went after her. "Ava! It's not safe!"

She didn't stop. She grabbed the ladder and climbed down, disappearing into the darkness below.

Elias stood at the edge, his heart pounding. The creature was still loose. The hunters were still searching. And now Ava was alone, terrified, and convinced he was the enemy.

The radio crackled again. "She's gone, isn't she?" Asher's voice was gleeful. "The seed of doubt is planted. Now watch it grow. Watch it destroy everything you've built."

Elias raised the radio. "When I find you, I'm going to kill you."

"I'd expect nothing less." Asher laughed. "But first, you have to find your people. And they're scattered all over this rig, running from monsters both real and imagined. You can't save them all."

The radio went dead.

Elias stood there for a long moment, the wind whipping at his clothes. Below, the ocean churned. Above, the sky was gray and endless.

He had a choice. Go after Ava, or find the others. Every instinct told him to chase her, to explain. But Asher was counting on that. Divide and conquer.

Elias turned away from the ladder. He'd find the others first. Then he'd prove to Ava that he wasn't the enemy.

Somehow.

---

The server room was dark when he arrived.

The door hung open, the frame bent. Inside, the consoles were smashed, the monitors dark. Papers were scattered across the floor. A chair lay overturned.

And there was blood on the wall.

Elias's heart sank. He moved through the room, checking for bodies. Nothing. But the blood was fresh.

"Becky? Jesus?" His voice echoed in the empty room.

No answer.

He studied the scene. The blood was smeared, suggesting someone had been dragged. There were footprints in the dust, multiple sets. The hunters had been here.

But there was no sign of a struggle. No shell casings. No bullet holes. Jesus wouldn't have gone down without a fight. Which meant either they'd been taken by surprise, or they'd left voluntarily.

Elias checked the blood again. It was still wet. The attack had happened recently.

He followed the trail out of the server room and into the corridor. The blood led toward the stairs, then disappeared. The hunters had probably carried their victims.

A radio buzzed on the floor. Elias picked it up. It was tuned to the hunters' channel.

"Target acquired. Package two is secure. Moving to extraction point."

Package two. That meant they'd captured someone. But was it Becky or Jesus?

Elias didn't wait. He moved toward the extraction point, which he guessed was the helipad. The hunters would want to get their prisoners off the rig as quickly as possible.

He ran. The corridors blurred past. The alarm had stopped, but the red emergency lights still flashed, giving the rig a hellish glow.

He reached the main deck and stopped. Voices ahead. He pressed himself against the wall and listened.

Two hunters, talking quietly.

"They got the girl. The programmer. But the big one got away."

"Which one's more valuable?"

"The girl. She's the one who can crack the encryption."

Elias felt a surge of relief. Jesus was still free. But Becky had been taken.

He moved closer, staying in the shadows. The two hunters were standing by a door marked "EXTRACTION." The door was reinforced, with a keypad lock.

Elias studied them. Both armed, but relaxed. They didn't expect an attack.

He raised the rifle. Two shots. Both men dropped, clutching their legs.

Elias rushed forward, kicking their weapons away. He grabbed one by the collar.

"Where are they taking her?"

The hunter groaned. "Helipad. There's a boat coming."

"A boat?"

"The supply ship. It's sending a landing craft. They're going to take the girl off the rig."

Elias's blood ran cold. If Becky left this rig, he'd never see her again.

He slammed the hunter's head against the wall, then turned and ran.

The helipad was a quarter mile away, through a maze of corridors and catwalks. Elias moved as fast as he could, his lungs burning. The supply ship was closer now, maybe half a mile out. He could see it through the gaps in the structure—a dark shape against the gray water.

He burst onto the helipad just as a small boat pulled alongside the rig's lower platform. Two men were carrying a struggling figure toward the ladder.

Becky.

She was fighting, her red hair whipping in the wind. Her hands were bound behind her back, but she was kicking and screaming.

"Let me go! Help! Somebody help!"

Elias raised the rifle. "Drop her!"

The hunters spun, raising their weapons. But they were too slow.

Elias fired. The first shot took the lead hunter in the shoulder. The second caught the other in the leg. Both men collapsed.

Becky broke free and ran toward Elias. She threw herself into his arms, sobbing.

"Thank God," she gasped. "I thought I was dead."

"You're safe now." He held her for a moment, then pulled back. "Where's Jesus? Where are the others?"

"I don't know. The hunters came so fast. Jesus tried to fight them, but there were too many. They took Henry too."

"Henry?"

Becky nodded. "They said he was a traitor. They took him to the upper deck."

Elias's mind raced. The hunters had Becky, but they'd also captured Henry. And they'd let Becky escape? Or had they?

He looked at her more carefully. Her clothes were torn. Her face was bruised. But her eyes... there was something different in her eyes. Something calculating.

"What happened?" he asked. "How did they capture you?"

"I was working on the console. The door burst open. Jesus fought them, but there were too many. They grabbed me and ran." She paused. "Elias, there's something I need to tell you. About Ava."

"What about her?"

"She's not who she says she is. I saw her talking to one of the hunters. Before they took me. She was giving them information."

The words hit Elias like a freight train. First Ava accused him, now Becky was accusing Ava. The paranoia was spreading.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"I saw her. She was on a radio, talking to someone. She said, 'The target is secure.' Then she looked right at me and smiled."

Elias didn't know what to believe. Everyone was lying, or everyone was telling the truth. The line between reality and manipulation was dissolving.

He heard a sound behind him. Footsteps. Multiple sets.

He spun.

Jesus emerged from the shadows, his massive frame silhouetted against the rig's lights. Behind him, Mateo and Lauren.

"Elias!" Mateo called. "You're alive!"

"Where's Ava?" Jesus asked.

Elias shook his head. "She ran. She thinks I'm part of the experiment."

"She's not wrong," Henry said, stepping out from behind Jesus. "None of us are innocent here."

Elias stared at him. "What are you talking about?"

Henry's face was grim. "I've been thinking. About the gas. About the white room. About why we were chosen." He paused. "We're not just test subjects. We're all connected. We all had a role in creating this place."

"That's insane."

"Is it?" Henry looked at him with something like pity. "You don't remember, but I do. I remember you, Elias. You were there. In the beginning. You helped design the physical layout. You told them how to build the traps."

The words didn't make sense. Elias shook his head. "You're lying."

"I wish I was." Henry's voice was heavy. "You and I, we worked together. Before the experiment went wrong. Before they erased our memories."

Elias felt the ground shift beneath him. The faces around him blurred. The wind howled, and the ocean roared, and somewhere deep in the rig, the creature screamed.

"You're wrong," he said. "I'm not like you. I'm not a monster."

"Neither was I," Henry said quietly. "Until I realized what I'd done."

A flare shot up from the supply ship, illuminating the helipad in harsh white light.

"The extraction team is coming," Lauren said. "We need to move. Now."

But Elias couldn't move. His mind was reeling. His identity was crumbling.

The truth was out there, somewhere in the wreckage of this dying rig. And he was afraid to find it.

"Elias," Becky said, her hand on his arm. "Come on. We have to go."

He looked at her. At all of them. Who was telling the truth? Who was lying? Who was the traitor?

He didn't know anymore.

But he knew one thing. He wasn't going to let the rig break him. Not yet.

"Let's go," he said.

And they ran into the shadows, the flare burning behind them, the supply ship drawing closer, and the truth waiting in the dark.