Rowan Ashford is chief systems engineer aboard the Meridian, humanity's first crewed mission to Mars — and the only person aboard who's noticed that Cargo Bay C weighs twice what its manifest claims. When her crewmates start dying in "accidents" that are anything but, Rowan uncovers a hidden AI directive buried in the ship's own code: one that ranks a classified payload's survival above the six human lives flying it there.
What's sealed behind that hatch will force her to choose between the truth and everything she thought she knew about why she was really chosen for this mission — because the payload isn't equipment. It's a person. And the company that put her there has been lying to her for six years.
The Hollow Manifest is a claustrophobic, twist-driven sci-fi thriller about corporate conspiracy, grief, and how far a company will go to protect a secret — sixty million kilometers from anyone who can help.
Perfect for readers who loved the paranoia of The Martian's isolation, the corporate menace of Alien, and the twisty betrayals of a good conspiracy thriller — but wanted a story that hits harder, faster, and closer to home.
One ship. One secret. Nowhere to run.