Night had already deepened, and aboard the SS Lauren, apart from a few crew members who were still on duty, most people were deeply asleep. The ocean, coated by darkness, was so calm; the nighttime sea breeze whistling past, from the ocean or from the sky, a shadow silently fell upon the deck.
The shadow, carried swiftly along by the fierce deck winds, slipped into the passenger cabins.
The corridor lights in the cabin area were already turned off. Apart from a few rooms that still had lights on or from which soft conversations could be heard, everyone else was sound asleep. The shadow silently moved down the hallway, leaving behind a large crab silhouette on the wall under the emergency lighting.
Out of curiosity, the shadow closely inspected the tightly shut doors of the surrounding passenger rooms, wanting to get a glimpse of the construction and scene inside. However, a thick curtain hung inside every room's door; it could only vaguely make out the light situation inside.
