“Fuck!”

Sirius slammed his fist on the keyboard. He then slapped his chest restraints, they clicked, and he was freely floating. He pushed off of his chair and floated towards the elevator. He swiped his ID chip but the access panel blinked red. He swiped again and was denied again. The first mate must have locked him out already.

Sirius cracked open a maintenance locker and grabbed an insulated chisel, then he pried the panel’s face off the wall and cut a cord, killing the power supply. The elevators were designed to fail closed, but they were also designed to be easy to pry open in event of a failure. A safety measure to prevent people from becoming trapped during power outages. He used the same chisel as a pry bar and the doors slid open. He floated over to one of the access ladders and climbed up the shaft.

The elevator was situated halfway up the command decks on level 3. Spaceship elevators were designed specifically to prevent people from being trapped, much like everything else on this ship there were multiple mostly airtight, but easily accessible entry points, especially if you knew how a ship was wired, to just about every room, elevators included. The elevator had three access points, one each on the top and bottom that lead out to the elevator shaft, and the traditional one leading out to the different levels.

He disengaged the lock on the bottom elevator hatch, trusting his luck that no one was already in there, might be a bit troublesome if there was. His luck held out – it was empty. Closing the bottom hatch, he did the same with the top hatch, passing through the elevator. The ship designers had really sacrificed security in the name of safety. Then again, the Anna Karenina was just a salvage ship, in combat she had no chance but to surrender or self-destruct.

He rose up through the levels, finally reaching the Captain’s own deck at the top. I’m probably gonna get shot for this, fuck it. He pried open the doors and pressed himself into the side wall as they slid open waiting for shots to ring out.

Except there were none.

Cautiously, he floated onto the deck, waiting for the moment he’d be turned into parmesan, or was it swiss cheese? He hadn’t seen either in his lifetime except in pictures. But he didn’t get turned into any form of human cheese, instead, the captain was staring at his desk monitor, unaware of Sirius’ intrusion. He stood, glued to the deck by his mag boots, but even in the zero g, Sirius could tell he was defeated, his posture still slightly slumped and his arms floating idly by is sides.

“…Captain?”, Sirius asked hesitantly.

The captain startled, his arms pinwheeling a bit in the low gravity as he tried to find his balance. Sirius let him panic a moment and then floated over and pushed the man down by his shoulders into the deck, letting his feet have contact with a solid surface and a minimal sense of weight. It was what he had been trained to do when Planetsiders lost their sense of orientation, give them something to establish an up-down sense of direction and then they’d be fine again.

The man relaxed, and Sirius floated over to a wall pharmaceutical dispenser and bought a dose of anti-nausea drugs. He floated back to the captain and pressed them into his hand, “Take these”.

The captain took the pills, dry swallowed, and looked a lot steadier than before.

“Thanks, tech”, the man looked pale.

“What the fuck is going on? I talked to the first mate, sent along a warning, and he locked me out! Is this some sort of conspiracy? If so, I’d like to get the fuck out of here, and I don’t mind using you as a human shield if it will get me off this boat”, Sirius said.

“I guess it’s time for the truth, huh?”, the captain said tiredly, “The truth is, we were specifically told to come here, this spot. They told me, if I flew the Anna Karenina here, I’d get double-pay, and whatever happened – ‘whatever happened’ was the most detail I got – I’d be on the first ship out. But the data you sent, I saw that too, and I agree. Whatever happened here will probably happen to us if we don’t get out of here. But that mutiny I was worried about? It chose the worst time to happen and I’m coming to the realization that HQ probably lied about the getting me home part. So now, he’s locked me out of the controls and whatever happens – I can’t do anything about it”.

“He? The First mate’s in on it?”, Sirius asked, he was surprised. Everything else made sense.

“When I first got here, I knew I needed to get a team of people loyal to me as soon as possible, and the first mate, he approached me first, suggesting the same thing. I was too new to the ship to be suspicious; I still believed the officers had some sort of loyalty to their captain”.

“So, you believed him?”

“Yeah, looking back, he seemed too eager to become my confidante, but I chalked it up to initiative”, the captain said, “it was a mistake”.

“So, let me get this, you – and HQ- sold us out to whatever’s out here, and somehow you’re still the victim here?”

“Give me a chance to make this right. Here, if you still don’t believe me – I’m transferring ownership of the arm to you, right now”, the captain turned to his computer and clicked through a few windows, “Look, it’s yours, just help me get out of this and you can pick it up when we hit Deimos – that’s all the bargaining chips I’ve got”.

“Seems to me, I could just cut and run right now – leave you in the shit while I head for an escape boat and try my chances at the mercy of strangers. Arm’s mine now. Would be a whole lot better than being blown into dust by whatever’s hanging around here” Sirius told him.

“You wouldn’t”, the captain said, he seemed convinced of that.

“I wouldn’t, huh? How do you figure that?”

“Sure, you joined up on a pirate ship. Sure, you have a history with the gangs on Deimos, so would anyone with your background. Even so, I don’t think you’re all that bad of a guy – no matter what the stereotype is of you Program types. For one, you never signed on for a combat ship, never signed on to a role that required you to definitely hurt or kill civilians. I get it, you’re mad at the system, it has definitely done you wrong. But you’re not a bad guy, that’s why you signed up on a support ship. I’ve seen your record, you have ethics, as fucked up as they may be, you still have a line you won’t cross. Well, aside from once”, he gestured at Sirius’ prosthetic arm.

Sirius glanced at the arm. A physical reminder of the truly stupid things he’d done. Of the things he regretted. Of the things he hated most about himself. He clenched his fist, the tighter he clenched it, the more painful the arm’s feedback became.

“Yeah, I crossed that line once, what makes you think I won’t do it again?” Sirius challenged, “I’ve heard it gets easier the more you do it. I think you’re just bullshitting so you can convince yourself that I’m not going to leave you in the shit”.

The captain stared wordlessly, then finally found his tongue, “Look, you got me. I was bullshitting. Honestly, I don’t trust you one bit, but I’ve been locked out and you’re the only one here who’s in a position to help. We’re both in the shit, I’ve offered to pay you, and out of this whole damn crew, you’re the only one to bust your way in here. Of your own volition, I might add”.

“Thanks for your honesty”, Sirius replied, “Fine, so I get you out of here, but I want something extra plus the arm, right?”

“I’ll double your earnings for the trip, with that, you can buy yourself a new identity and passage to whatever rock or tin can you feel like going to and have a nice long vacation”.

“It’s a deal, now, have any guns on this deck?”, Sirius asked him.

The Captain showed him a small armaments locker which contained a few non-lethal tasers and charging clips.

“It’s not much, but better than nothing, do you have a plan?”

“Can I see your computer?” Sirius said as he scanned the relatively bare room.

The captain nodded. Sirius opened a few schematics of the Anna Karenina and looked for the best routes from the executive decks. “I think I have an idea, but it probably won’t be convenient for you”.