Scarlett and Chetaara didn't get dressed, so they just climbed off the bed and ran out of the bedroom. Byron still wasn't comfortable walking around the ship naked, so he had to stop to pull on his boxers and jumpsuit before he followed. He hadn't realized what a prude he was until now.

As he began to walk out of the room, he heard the deep voice in his head again.

Byron? Can you hear me?

He looked around at the empty room. "Yes, I hear you. Can you hear me? Who is this?"

Oh, I can hear you, you can hear me. We need to talk. I--

The voice cut off mid-sentence.

After calling out to the voice for a few more minutes with no response, he shook his head and walked out, thinking he was going crazy. It had to be part of the game, but he couldn't figure out what purpose it had. Maybe someone was trying to talk to his real body and it filtered through into the game. But who was doing it and why?

He had to admit this was the least important thing he had going on, though.

By then, everyone had gathered on the bridge where the communications screen showed an alien with white skin like ivory. It wore a silvery uniform.

When he walked in, Chetaara tapped keys. "We picked up a priority distress call from a luxury cruise ship, the Star Flower. It's gone now but this is what we recorded."

The alien on the screen began to speak. "This is Captain Ra-Lor-Kenn of the Star Flower. We are under attack by pirates. Our location--"

The image froze.

Chetaara looked up at Byron. "That's the end of the message, and the signal is being jammed, but we have the coordinates. It's less than five hyper-minutes away."

He nodded. "Let's go."

MISSION: RESCUE THE STAR FLOWER

REWARD: 4000 XP, 500 CREDITS

Scarlett clapped her hands. "Yes, finally some fucking action. I mean, besides the literal fucking action."

Xana shook her head. "You have such a way with words."

Scarlett kissed her before strutting over to take her place in the pilot's chair. "And you love it, baby."

It took only minutes for Scarlett to plot a course before the Icarus burst into hyperspace. As he watched colors swirl outside the ship, he wondered where he was really going. Would this be the beginning of a new adventure or the road to his own death?

He said, "It's funny how playing a video game where I charge onto a battlefield with thousands of soldiers seems fun but facing only three soldiers when my life is on the line seems so scary."

Scarlett nodded. "I know, right? That's why I prefer videogames."

He glanced at Chetaara and Xana, but they didn't seem to notice or react to his comments. Apparently they were programmed to ignore or misunderstand when he talked about the reality of their being in a virtual world.

"You know," he sighed, "I still wonder about the true purpose of Venus Online. I don't understand why the game would be released to beta testing knowing it could kill people. That definitely wouldn't have gotten past the alpha testing stage."

Scarlett laughed. "Yeah, that's a major fucking bug."

"I wonder if it was an unfortunate side effect or it was done on purpose, but neither makes sense. If it was an accidental side effect, why didn't they shut down the game to keep it from happening again? If it was on purpose, why would they do that? Also, if the game is so dangerous, why aren't we allowed to leave? What's the point of that? You said the company wanted to get its money's worth. What's that mean?"

Scarlett looked at him and winced. "I would totally tell you if I could but I wasn't even supposed to say that much. I got enough fucking firewalls in my head to even keep me from snoring the answers in my sleep. And I swear, a lot of the answers I just don't know."

"I know, which also doesn't make sense. But I'm also thinking of that old man in the train station who gave me the invitation to Venus Online. You called him Otis Accolade, the designer of the game."

She nodded. "Yup. He's a fucking genius."

"Did he know that I would be trapped in the game? If so, why did he give me the invitation? I saved his life. This doesn't seem like much of a reward."

She widened her eyes. "It kinda is. You said Otis said you deserved a better life. Isn't this a better life?"

"Well, yeah, the video game world is way more fun and exciting than my real life, even if I could get killed. But I still want to be free. And there has to be more to Venus Online than just a cool game. I wish I could find some answers."

As he thought about it, Xana got up from her chair and climbed into his lap. She gave him a kiss before leaning her head against his chest.

He stroked her long green hair. "Well, at least I have you three ladies with me. No matter what happens, you've made my life way better than my old one."

Chetaara, Scarlett, and Xana all smiled at each other and him. They really were awesome.

When the ship dropped out of hyperspace, it immediately shook from an explosion.

In deep space, a frigate a little larger than the Icarus flew around a massive starship. Beams from the smaller frigate burned across the larger starship's hull while missiles shrieked out to punch holes in the rest. Most of the larger starship was a charred wreck.

Byron leaned forward. "What's going on?"

Scarlett shook her head. "It's a class five frigate but it's packing major fucking firepower. Five torpedo launchers, six plasma turrets, and class ten armor."

Chetaara gasped. "There are over four thousand people aboard the Star Flower. It's lost life support in sixty percent of its hull."

He rubbed his cheek. "What kind of weapons do they have?"

She shook her head while her ears flattened. "As a cruise ship, it has no offensive weapons of any kind. Luxury vessels have to be classified as non-military to travel across borders freely. Most cruise ships have escorts, but this one seems to have lost its escort fighters."

She looked at him. "We're being hailed."

He nodded.

She tapped keys.

On the comm screen, an alien woman glared at him. Long braids of black hair fell around a long and beautiful face. She had blue skin with glowing white lines running along her forehead and cheeks, like bioluminescence. Yet she looked otherwise human with large blue eyes and thick lips in a cruel sneer.

She spoke with a British accent. "Hello there, this is Captain Wikona Jokah of the Black Thorn. Don't mind us, we're just doing a little shopping for something on that ship that we want and we're gonna get it. I suggest you move along or we'll fry your arses too."

He scowled. "I'm Captain Byron Jones of the Icarus. We don't like being threatened and won't just leave an unarmed ship under attack. Break off your attack or we'll have to defend it."

Jokah laughed. "Are you that stupid or do you not watch the news? You obviously haven't heard of us. Here, let me give you a little demonstration, eh?"

She waved at something out of view of the camera.

In the main window, the Black Thorn began to turn away from the cruise ship. Its laser turrets turned to the Icarus and fired.

The blasts made the windows flash with blinding light. Byron held onto his chair as the hull shuddered.

Scarlett looked over her shoulder at him. "Holy shit, those things pack a fucking punch. We just lost half our forward shields."

Jokah's smile widened. "I hope I've convinced you to find somewhere else to be a hero. Toodles."

She vanished from the screen.

The three women on Byron's ship all looked at him. He could almost hear the unspoken pleading from all of them to move in, but they didn't want to be the ones to make the call.

"Well," Byron said, "she just made me want to wipe that smile off her face."

Scarlett clapped her hands. "Yes! Fucking 'A'!"

Chetaara bowed her head. "Praise the goddess, this fight must be won."

Xana climbed off Byron's lap to sprint over to the engineering console. "I can, um, route power from the engines to the shields. We won't be as fast, but we'll last longer in a fight."

Byron nodded. "Sounds good to me. Chetaara, let me take over weapons."

He switched chairs with Chetaara and the weapons controls popped out at him. He couldn't hold back a smile, feeling back behind the joystick. He still didn't know how to fly a spaceship, but he could shoot and that made him feel more in control.

Scarlett shook her head. "I can't believe we're gonna fight Captain Blueboobs."

He blinked at her. "What?"

"Captain Jokah. She's famous, one of the worst pirates out there. They call her Blueboobs. You know, like Blackbeard? 'Cause she's got blue tits?"

His eyes narrowed. "Really?"

She shrugged. "Hey, this is a fucking video game. Not exactly the most subtle group o' guys."

Since the Black Thorn had fired on the Icarus, it had turned its attention back to the Star Flower. As its weapons pounded the cruise ship, a small light moved from the pirate ship to the luxury liner.

Byron pointed at it. "What is that? A fighter?"

Scarlett shook her head. "It's a shuttle."

Chetaara nodded. "Jokah said she was looking for something aboard the Star Flower. I assume the shuttle is going to retrieve it."

"Not if we can help it." Byron took hold of the joystick and moved the crosshair onto the shuttle before firing his guns.

The Icarus' bolts of fire flashed through space to hit the shuttle. The shuttle's health bar dropped by a third, which surprised him because he had thought he would have destroyed it. Its armor was a lot stronger than he thought.

The communications screen lit up with Captain Jokah's face again, this time tightened into a scowl. "I don't have time to deal with you idiots right now, but I won't stand for anyone firing on my fucking shuttle."

Before he could respond, she vanished from the screen just as the Black Thorn's nose turned slowly towards the Icarus. Laser bolts flashed out of the pirate ship to slam into the Icarus, along with slower streaks of light.

Scarlett yelled, "Shit, three missiles inbound! Brace for impact!"

The Icarus rocked as the missiles slammed into her port side. Byron had to hang on to keep from flying out of his chair.

Smoke poured into the bridge as lights turned red all over the ship's consoles. On the screen showing a wireframe of the Icarus, the glowing lines indicating its shields dropped from green to red, then disappeared.

"We've lost shields on the port side!"

Byron aimed his crosshairs at the pirate ship. "Keep the starboard side aimed at the Black Thorn, and the port side away from her."

Scarlett worked the controls with lightning speed. "Easier said than done. That ship's faster than a greased fist up your ass."

The Black Thorn had already circled around the Icarus, blasting it with its turrets over and over. The ship's shields collapsed on the screens all around Byron as the hull boomed like thunder.

Xana shook her head. "I-I'm routing life support to the shields, but I'm sorry, I can't get us any more power."

Byron tried to keep the Black Thorn in his crosshairs, but it was a lot faster than the Icarus. The pirate ship literally flew circles around Byron's ship as it pumped fire. One minute, it was in front, the next minute in back. He fired missiles whenever he got the chance, but by the time Byron managed to get a lock, the Black Thorn was gone. The missiles just sailed off into space and exploded.

His joystick grew slick from sweat as he grit his teeth. "Don't we have any guided or heat-seeking missiles?"

Scarlett sent the Icarus into a dive to keep the starboard side aimed at the Black Thorn. "Those cost a shitload of credits, Captain. I can't exactly pull them out of our collective ass."

The Icarus rocked as an explosion ripped through it. This time, the explosion came from inside the ship instead of outside.

Scarlett shook her head. "All shields are down!"

Xana stood up. "We took a hit to the thermal vents. Losing pressure. I'm gonna shut it down before we lose the engines."

She bolted off the bridge.

Scarlett looked Byron in the eye. "We're not gonna make it, baby. We're fucked."

Chetaara scowled. "No, the Outsider will save us. The goddess has foreseen it."

He cringed a little at her mention of the Outsider. She believed him to be some sort of legendary figure called the Outsider who would free everyone from Venus Online. He wasn't sure he believed it.

Byron wanted to agree with Scarlett or Chetaara, but the truth was he didn't know who was right. The Black Thorn was faster and stronger, and the Icarus was getting torn to pieces. Unlike his last space battles, this wasn't a battle of the Icarus against multiple or single small fighters. This was a battle between two ships of equal size but unequal strength.

Then silence.

Byron, Scarlett, and Chetaara all looked out the windows. The laser fire and missile bombardment had stopped.

The Black Thorn flew away from the Icarus at high speed until the pirate ship turned into a flash of light and vanished.

Chetaara let out a deep sigh. "They have jumped to hyperspace. They left the battle."

He looked at Scarlett who shrugged back at him.

"Beats the fuck outta me," she said. "It's not like Blueboobs is known for acts of mercy."

OBJECTIVE COMPLETE

+4000 XP

+500 CREDITS

Xana came back onto the bridge with smoke blackening her green skin. "Wh-what happened? They're gone?"

"Yeah." Byron leaned back in his chair as the joystick retreated back into the console. "The pirates just left."

Scarlett looked at some instruments. "I think I know why. While the Black Thorn fucked with us, they sent a shuttle to the Star Flower and came back. Whatever they were looking for, they got it."

Chetaara closed her eyes and her ears flicked forward. "Praise be to the Goddess, we have won. We should help the survivors aboard the cruise ship."

Byron took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He had faced his first ship-to-ship battle and failed miserably. If the Black Thorn hadn't left, he probably would be dead. It made him feel queasy.

"Yeah." Byron stood up. "I agree. And I'd also like to get some answers about what those pirates were looking for."

Once again, the game text popped up to confirm his decision.

OBJECTIVE: INVESTIGATE THE STAR FLOWER

REWARD: 1500 XP, 500 CREDITS