Miles glanced out the window as he walked by. The Andromedan ship still floated listlessly just a kilometer away from the Hyperion. One of the shuttles was currently inspecting the vessel from the outside, surveying the impact zones and attempting to repair some of the damage to the hull. As he went down the corridor, his mind ran over his conversation with the strange priest.

It was true, Miles had no idea what the Free Exchange was planning, but he knew one way to poke the dragon. Don’t do it. The more rational side of him warned. It would only land him in trouble. If he was to escape their notice, he should be lying low. Biding his time and waiting for the right moment.

However, a part of him told his legs to keep moving forward. Deep down, Miles wanted to see what would happen. He wanted to see what exactly the Free Exchange would do. And yes—he wanted to see if he could poke them in the eye and get away with it. He might be a coward, but he was a stupid one as well.

Miles found what he was looking for on deck five. One of the computer terminals was waiting just down the hallway. The monitor hung from the wall while a holographic key pad hovered below it. At a moment’s notice, any of the crew could access the Hyperion’s database and the vast store of information contained within.

He only needed a moment to input his identification into the computer and search up the desired information.

A record of the Hyperion’s inspections before leaving the dry dock appeared before him. Most of the inspections had never been completed. Amos mentioned repeatedly that it was because the whole ship had been a rush job. Miles knew better than to think that.

His eyes scrolled over the tabs on the list. Over seventy percent of the checklist was darkened. Most of the major areas had been inspected, such as engineering and the bridge, but whole swaths of the secondary systems were dark. There was supposed to be a fully functional greenhouse in the lower decks in the event that the food rations ran out, but none of it had even been looked over.

They wanted the ship to fly as soon as possible. His mind generated an excuse for it. There’s nothing suspicious about that. Turn around and forget you ever searched this up.

Miles’ thumb drifted over to the power button of the monitor before darting to the left and clicking on a diagram view. The data on the screen changed to that of a picture of the ship. This time numbered lines pointed to various systems corresponding with the inspections. Again, most were dark, but it provided Miles a better sense of what had been overlooked.

Large yellow bubbles overlapped near the bridge and engineering as he expected. However, the midsection of the ship was mostly left alone, along with most of the outer hull. The lower decks were also similarly devoid of any color.

He bit his lip. If Tannis was trying to hide something… Miles had done plenty of smuggling work for the slimy bureaucrat before. Tannis was above all clever. The man didn’t need to use any cramped maintenance shafts or hidden compartments. He would hide it in plain sight and let the person waste their time searching every little corner of the vessel when it was right under their nose the whole time.

If Tannis knew someone might look, he wouldn’t put it in the center of the uninspected areas. Miles’ finger veered away from the large areas of uninspected rooms and hallways towards the bright areas of the ship. Somewhere not important enough to check, but not so unimportant as to be suspicious. His finger landed on the water distribution system. Where large amounts of space could be found with no one peeking inside.

Tank No. 4 was the only one of the eight total tanks to be uninspected. It would be a relatively easy job of sticking something inside a watertight container and tweaking the computers to give off the expected pressure and volume numbers.

There you are. He quickly shut off the monitor. He didn’t know what the chances were of someone watching the computer terminals, but the less time he spent on there the better. You can still turn back. That annoying voice in the back of his head squeaked.

A slow smile creeped across his face. No, there would be no more turning back now. His curiosity had been piqued, and he was going to see this through. Miles patted the trousers of his uniform. Tucked within the waistband was a cheap pistol that he had managed to smuggle aboard. Reaching his hand around the grip, he discreetly turned the safety off.

Turning around to head towards his new destination, he took a deep breath and stepped forward. Time to poke the dragon.

The walk to the central water distribution system was a long one. It was located near the rear of the ship, where the water could be easily pumped to shield much of the radiation emitted by the gravity drives. Much of the hull also had pockets of water inserted to dampen the effects of background radiation from the vacuum. However, most of the section was empty, as the systems were all more or less automated.

Miles stood atop a walkway overlooking eight massive tanks, each about as large as a small house. The room was filled with pipes and machinery as the water was pumped throughout the vessel. The hum of the gargantuan bulk could be easily heard as it churned away. Walking to one grey tank with an emblazoned white four on one side, he quickly looked over the computers.

A cursory glance told him that all the readings came out as normal. Quickly tapping a few buttons, he ran a regular diagnostic on the systems. A second later, they all came back green. Maybe I’m wrong. Miles mused. He investigated far enough. The computer told him everything was normal inside the tank.

Of course, it was a standard scan. If someone had adjusted the computer, it would’ve been easy to fake. The only way to tell would be to run a level two and reset the software back to its factory setting. Miles didn’t hesitate as he tapped a few more buttons. A few minutes as the screen turned dark, then it flickered to life again.

This time, the interior diagnostic displayed red. An indicator opened up, showing the displacement of water by a large, boxy object sitting in the tank. Miles snorted. He didn’t expect it to be so easy.

He leaned on the railing of the walkway, looking out towards the tank. Let’s open you up and see what’s inside. He turned back to the computer and pressed on the screen.

“I wouldn’t do that,” a female voice spoke behind him.

Miles stuck his hands in his pockets and slowly turned around. Standing just a few feet away from him on the walkway was Ensign Mia Williams. She sighed and leaned on the railing, crossing her arms.

“I thought it would be you.” Miles grinned.

“Oh? What gave me away?” She narrowed her eyes.

“It’s the face.” Miles pointed to his. “Sooner or later, everyone slips up. I saw it on you when we raised the ship out of the gas giant. Completely in control. Just like Tannis. Sometimes, too much training bites you in the ass.”

Mia gave an exasperated sigh. “Fair. I was never as skilled as Tannis. I never liked people as much as he did.”

“If you don’t mind me asking.” Miles stepped forward. “You don’t strike me as a manipulator. You sure you’re in the right line of work?”

“I’m an agent,” she curtly responded. “I just do what needs to get done for Mr. Tannis. And right now, that means deciding what to do with you.”

Miles never took his eyes off her. “I am curious. What are you going to do? What can you do? Because it seems to me, this little secret of yours was supposed to stay hidden. How come your science didn’t predict that? I thought you were supposed to know everything.”

Mia rolled her eyes. “Patterns and recognition. Individual action is, of course, completely unpredictable, but long-term outcomes are not. Men act repeatedly according to their personalities. A prideful man will spite others. A shy one will retreat from social attention. And a stupid one might throw a wrench into the works. There was a risk you would step out of line, and that’s why I’m here.”

“I’m glad I was able to do so, but the real question is—” Miles lifted the gun from his waist and pointed at Mia. “Did you predict this?”

She raised an eyebrow as the barrel of the pistol pointed directly at her forehead. “Killing me? Do you really think you can get away with that on the ship? You can’t possibly cover that up. You’ll be charged for murder by the Captain.”

“Who said anything about getting away with it? I’ll be happy to shed some Free Exchange blood.”

“But you haven’t fired the gun yet.” She pointed out. “Meaning you still want something from me.”

Miles wrapped his finger around the trigger. “What does the Free Exchange want with that ship?”

Her face remained completely calm. “Why should I answer that if you’re just going to kill me?”

He shrugged. “Might clear your conscience a little.”

“I don’t have a conscience,” she flatly replied.

“Then it was nice knowing you.” He pulled the trigger.

Silence.

Miles’ finger pulled firm against the trigger just a hair-breadth away from firing the weapon. As much as he wanted to, for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. His body was completely frozen in place.

Mia lifted one of her arms and revealed she was holding a remote. “Please, do you think it would’ve been that easy?”

Miles tried to speak, but his mouth refused to work.

“We needed a sleeper agent. One hidden in plain sight—a knife so hidden that even he did not know it. Something like that is hard to procure. It required intensive surgery to have a neural controller implanted in your spine.”

She shook her head as she approached and inspected him closely. “Long-term patterns and recognition, Mr. Kieth. We needed someone who wouldn’t be missed for a few days. Someone who didn’t have any close social contacts. Someone who could survive the highly dangerous and lethal procedure.”

Miles tried his best to move, but his body completely resisted him. He couldn’t even move a muscle. All control had been wrested from him.

“Your poor habit of binge drinking gave us the perfect excuse. No one noticed as we put you in an ambulance. You didn’t even remember as we flew you to a nearby hospital—all under the guise of fixing your alcohol poisoning. Then your miraculous body managed to patch itself up quite nicely after the implant. We put you back right in your bed without you noticing the slightest.”

She moved her thumb on the remote, and he lowered his arm. “Every action you took might have been unpredictable isolated from the others, but you were still a tool nonetheless.”

Miles couldn’t even move his eyes as she stepped to the side and leaned on the railing again. He barely saw her cast a sideways glance at something he couldn’t see, and he saw her give a deep sigh.

“You want to know why Tannis picked you for this mission? You were meant to kill Captain Singh if he ever stepped out of line. Our perfect scapegoat. It’s regrettable that you had to make yourself useless. But maybe it’s just another final irony in the end. You would’ve never gotten away with a murder, but I can certainly get away with a suicide.”

She moved her thumb on the remote, and Miles’ arm whipped to his head. The barrel of the pistol was right against his temple.

“Goodbye, Mr. Kieth.”

There was a movement near the back. A faint trace of wind where there shouldn’t be. The room suddenly exploded into action as a squad of marines quickly surrounded them. Miles saw a touch of annoyance cross her face as the men had them encircled in only a few seconds. A dozen assault rifles were raised, and all were pointed at Ensign Mia Williams.

“Perhaps you would like to reconsider?” Father Soren stepped onto the walkway.

Mia turned towards the old man. “I didn’t think Mr. Kieth was smart enough to bring back up.”

“He wasn’t, but I suspected he might find himself in some trouble.”

Miles would’ve been annoyed if not for the gun that was pointed at his head. He had to hand it to the old priest. That man was a son of a bitch, but at the moment, Miles didn’t care. He was just glad not to be dead.

“If you’re the Free Exchange agent, I suspect Dr. Terese was a decoy then? You purposefully faked her records to make them suspicious,” Father Soren asked.

Mia remained silent, but her expression was one of fury.

“I thought so.” The priest raised his hand. “You have ten seconds to drop that remote. Otherwise, I order my men to shoot you dead. Your call.”

“Who are you?” Mia asked. “I went over your records. I thought you were some missionary priest from a minor protectorate.”

The old man gave a wry grin. “You are not the only one who can fake records. Eight.”

“I’ll kill him,” she warned. “Don’t think I won’t do it. Better two of us dead.”

“Six,” the priest flatly stated.

Miles wanted to scream at the man, but the old priest had his eyes dead set on Mia. The two of them didn’t move a muscle.

“Four.”

“I want a shuttle,” Mia spoke with desperation. “Take me to a shuttle, and I’ll let him go.”

Miles felt the weight of the barrel against his head grow heavier. Let her do it! He inwardly shouted at the priest.

“You don’t get to make demands. Two.”

Silence filled the room. There was a long moment of quiet as the two sides stared each other down. Nothing could be heard but the hum of machinery in the background. All hands tensed as twelve soldiers aimed their guns directly at Ensign Williams.

Suddenly, a loud blaring filled the room as all lights flickered red. Mia was the first to swing into action. She dove to the side and thumbed the remote. Miles’ arm snapped forward with inhuman speed and he pulled the trigger on the old priest.

Three rounds fired towards the old man’s torso. The light around the priest distorted and bent as the gravity shield traced the bullet rounds. They were taken by the gravity and their path diverted harmlessly to the side. Miles didn’t get the chance to fire a fourth shot as another bang echoed in the room and he felt a piercing pain in his leg.

He collapsed on the walkway, dropping the gun. Mia scrambled for the gun, but Father Soren was faster. He placed his boot on the pistol and kicked it aside to the floor below. She didn’t have a chance to move further as a marine stepped behind her and pointed a gun directly at her head. Her shaking hand dropped the remote, and she sneered from the floor at Father Soren.

Miles suddenly regained control of his body again as the remote left her grip. He arched back in extreme pain as the bullet wound in his leg oozed blood. He saw the marine pick Mia up and drag her away while another soldier rushed by his side and started applying first aid. Father Soren picked up the remote carefully and tucked it into his cassock.

Kneeling before Miles, the priest patted him on the shoulder. “Good job.”

“Glad I could be of help,” Miles sarcastically spat. He looked towards the ceiling and the red lights flicking on and off. “Why did the ship alarm go off?”

Almost to answer his question, Lt. Commander Klyker’s panicked voice rang through the comm. “All hands to stations. Readiness Level Six. An unidentified vessel has entered the system.”