Miles sighed as he threw himself back against the seat. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he finally let his shaking hands off the controls. He hadn’t flown that maneuver in years and never with a transport shuttle. That they had survived was a minor miracle.

“You think we could’ve waited a few minutes? You know, after Amos shut off the power?” He turned to Tannis, who was sitting calmly next to him.

The bureaucrat rested his hands behind his head. “I thought we were. I gave Erika plenty of time to get to engineering. Something must’ve delayed her. Besides, we could’ve handled a few more missiles.”

Miles made to snap back at Tannis, but he was just glad to be alive after that. He punched in a few buttons and set a straight course for the derelict. It would be ten minutes before they would get to the vessel. Now, there was nothing to do but wait. He collapsed back in his chair and kicked his feet up on the cockpit console.

“What makes you think this plan of yours will even work?” Miles prodded, trying to dig for some more information. “Commander Terese seems pretty clever. You think she won’t have predicted this?”

“Erika Terese is a brilliant scientist, but she never understood the most important truth of her own field.”

Miles raised an interested eyebrow. “Which is?”

Tannis looked forward somberly. “That she’s bound by the same mathematical laws as everyone else. Knowledge doesn’t make you any less human. Her measure was taken just as easily as anyone else’s. Her function within the hierarchy modeled and accounted for. And just as easily the flaw.”

There was a tragedy in Tannis’ voice. The bureaucrat wasn’t just speaking for Terese, but also himself. I suppose even Glen Tannis needs to bow. Miles suddenly thought. It never occurred to him that even the masters of the Free Exchange needed to show due deference.

It made sense. If Glen Tannis or any of his ilk stood in a position of true free will, then their system would collapse all the same. They were no more above humanity than anyone else. To create something truly concrete, even the kings of said order needed to be subjugated. There was an insult to that. We’re not even ruled over by men—just other slaves.

“And I’m guessing that flaw is you?” Miles asked, watching how the bureaucrat would react.

A slow smile crept across the Tannis’ face. Miles himself was disgusted by it. Even if Glen Tannis was only a mere slave like everyone else, the difference was that he clearly enjoyed his work. Somehow, that made it more detestable. What’s more, he genuinely took pleasure in explaining it to Miles, as if taking the credit for a crime that happened long before he would’ve been born.

“Dr. Terese can only think of the world through models of hierarchies. All she can ever focus on is the workings and outcomes of those structures. So, she believed the Free Exchange would attack within those models and naturally diverted her attention to Lt. Commander Klyker, the main threat to her position in the hierarchy. She never internalized the truth that science can’t predict everything—even if she acknowledges it on its face.”

Miles could understand that well enough. Acknowledging a truth was far different from believing in it. To truly believe in an idea was to make it part of oneself. To sew it into flesh and bind it to one’s own bones. And even then, it was rare that a person could do it completely. They would always hold to their own desires and needs.

Perhaps he knew that better than anyone else. He wanted freedom. Even if Singh’s vision appealed to him, that idea could only take hold of him so far. In the end, he was who he was.

“I still don’t see how you fit into that picture.” Miles spoke, eyeing the looming derelict. The ship which had survived so much and now was within grasp.

Tannis thrust his eyes to the vessel as well. “The models all say the same thing. She will control the majority of the hierarchy of the Hyperion. That outcome is singular in that the overwhelming odds are stacked in her favor, and she will judge her situation based upon that.” Glen shook his head. “But she can’t comprehend that you can have all the power in the world and still lose to trivial realities. She could never predict the Free Exchange making a dirty move on the board.”

“Such as?”

Glen tsked with distaste. “As much as I hate it, sometimes technology can level the playing field. That FTL drive on the Andromedan derelict, for instance. I still have my taps on the Hyperion’s systems. She won’t be able to fire the gravity core without me noticing.”

“Isn’t using technology too uncertain for you?” Miles tried to mimic Glen’s nasal voice. “It malfunctions—subverts our expectations.”

Miles could understand that hesitation, though. If the taps on the Hyperion were discovered, Tannis would lose. If Commander Terese fired the gravity core before the FTL drive was repaired, Tannis would lose. If anything went wrong, Tannis would lose. The battlefield had now switched from a human reality to a situational one. And Glen Tannis was hoping the cards of the universe played in his favor.

Glen shot Miles an annoyed look. “Dr. Terese could never predict us betting on uncertainty itself. She wouldn’t. For her, the only reality is the equations in her head. And so ironically enough, the best bet is the one outside the Free Exchange’s control.”

“That’s why Ensign Williams was here,” the bureaucrat added. “to determine the proper time to make the bet. It could only have been done with particular knowledge of the situation at hand. We also obviously took precautions such as you.”

Miles instinctively wanted to reach to the back of his skull, again thinking of the surgery that had been done. He thought he could feel where the incision must’ve been made, although it would’ve been impossible.

That was another thing Miles could despise the man for. Glen Tannis actively enjoyed reducing humanity to an equation. The man preferred a clean and sterile world to the real one. And he delighted in forcing everyone to that world.

“So, that’s what I am? A bet?” Miles spat that last word out.

Despite this, Miles understood that was no more than what a man could be in Glen Tannis’ world. A human being was only a series of probabilities waiting to be played out. And depending on the outcome of those bets, a few minor adjustments would need to be made. In a way, the bureaucrat might have been giving him a compliment by making Miles a more important wager than most.

Glen Tannis answered the question as easily as the others. “Erika Terese double and triple checked the models we gave her, but you can circumvent that. For example, a person suddenly acting as someone else would. Say, suicidally shooting her down in the bridge. Again, the uncertainty of technology bridging that power gap.”

“But it’s not just technology.” Miles prodded Tannis further.

In truth, Miles was hoping for a trick. Something—anything to get him out of this mess. If he could just get out of the game, then maybe he would finally have the upper hand. But he knew that if Tannis was telling him this—then it didn’t matter. That was the type of man Glen Tannis simply was.

The terrifying reality was that the bureaucrat was just wise enough to never hand the knife to his enemy. If Tannis ever spoke to someone, it was because the man knew what he was saying. And that was more dangerous than anything.

“There are other bets that could’ve been made.” Tannis shrugged his shoulders. “She could be killed in an accident, removed by disease, anything really. Many external events happen outside human hierarchies. It’s just that the probability is usually so low that no one would roll those dice.”

The bureaucrat continued. “There is always a level of uncertainty in the models. It’s low, but it’s there. That’s why the Free Exchange exists. Why we could not simply lay out the plan and leave the galaxy on its own. When events happen in those margins of error, they make deviations. Sometimes little, sometimes catastrophic. We make corrections to keep to the plan.”

Miles knew it was true, and yet that wasn’t enough for Tannis to hide from the lie in that statement. If the masters of the Free Exchange were subjugated, then the galactic order didn’t make corrections so much as it was a part of the same system. It was no different from the protectorates it ostensibly ruled over. It was merely a different facet of the same structure that had been designed from the beginning.

They were all slaves, shackled by men whose bodies were now long dust and eaten by stars. But there was no point in thinking about the Milky Way. There was only the here and now, and Miles needed to bring himself to the present.

“So, what’s the probability of success for our plan?”

Glen chuckled. “That I will keep to myself. Although we have one other advantage.”

Miles glanced over, yet knowing the question was pointless. “Oh?”

Tannis crossed his arms. “Erika Terese is arrogant. Once she thinks she’s won, her judgement slips. She thinks of people as puppets and forgets to account for those risks. It’s inevitable that she’ll at least create a little mess for herself that will cost her time. Our new Captain won’t turn her attention to the derelict for a while yet.”

The hangar bay of the derelict silently beckoned them. Ancient empty shuttles were parked along the far wall, dark and desolate. The vast space accommodated the six craft comfortably and even the shuttles from the Hyperion that were parked awkwardly on the hangar floor.

The crew had discovered that the particle shield entering the bay was semi-permeable in that vessels could pass through it while also keeping atmosphere. In the event of combat, large metal doors could slide shut to protect the interior.

Miles gently guided their own shuttle through the golden barrier. He chose a spot on the wide, flat floor and landed the vessel a short distance from the door leading further into the derelict. There was no one in the hangar—they were all busy trying to repair the FTL drive.

And while he had been told that the crew had cracked basic sensors, it was doubtful if anyone was even watching them. They would only be listening to communications from the Hyperion, which had all been shut down for the time being. For all intents and purposes, Miles and Tannis now had a free reign of the ship.

Tannis unbuckled himself first and turned towards the cockpit door. Several safeties had engaged since the main compartment had been depressurized from the missile fire. The bureaucrat got to work, overriding the lock while Miles shut down the shuttle’s gravity drive.

Flicking one last switch, Miles unbuckled himself and glanced over at Tannis. The man was busy with his back turned. It would be an easy matter to pull out his pistol and shoot him now. After all, Miles was now safely on the derelict. He could stop Commander Terese’s plan to disable the FTL drive. His hand reached for the gun.

“Not yet,” Glen warned as the door mechanism finally yielded and the circular hatch opened. “You still need me.”

Miles eyed him suspiciously. “How’d you—“

“Even if you killed me now, you would have no way of knowing where Erika’s men are. You would be running in blind and without a plan.” Glen turned to face him. “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

“You knew I was lying earlier?” Miles realized. “That I had no intention of letting you live once we landed?”

“Yes.” Glen rolled his eyes impatiently.

“That leaves us in an awkward position, doesn’t it?” Miles asked.

“Not from where I’m standing.” Tannis put his hands in his pockets. “Mr. Kieth, you can make up whatever reason you like. That you’re trying to help Singh or fight for some noble cause or just to stick it to the Free Exchange. But at the end of the day, I know what you want. So let’s make this simple. You can either get out of your own way, or you can shoot me. Make your choice.”

I should’ve known it wasn’t ever going to be so simple. Miles sullenly thought. It was tempting to think there would ever be a point where Tannis’ usefulness would come to an end, and Miles could just shoot him. But that moment likely wouldn’t ever come. The man would keep buying time, and there was nothing Miles could do about it.

Tannis admitted external realities could affect his plan, but that was a move only available to those who knew the broader picture. Even if an opportunity presented itself to Miles—which was unlikely because Tannis wouldn’t allow it—he might not even be smart enough to recognize it as an opportunity at all. Or it could even be just calculated bait. Miles couldn’t depend on little slip-ups here and there. By their own nature, they were unreliable.

His hand drifted away from the gun. His heart sunk as the truth of the matter suddenly became clear to him. Tannis would play him as he always did. Miles was nothing more than a product of his own choices, and those choices had all been accounted for.

There was no way out of this game for Miles Kieth. Tannis controlled every move on the board before it even began. The only choice was to the change the rules—and that required a sacrifice. One that he knew he couldn’t make. And that was exactly what Tannis was counting on.

That’s what truly stood between Miles and Tannis. The wager that Tannis had made. The bureaucrat thought Miles would never give up his dream of being free, and so Tannis would always twist events so that Miles needed him alive for just a bit longer. There was no shooting Glen Tannis—not without putting a bullet through his own heart as well.

He fell back against the chair, now knowing what was truly at stake. Miles felt as if all his hopes had been dashed against a wall in front of him. I guess there is no other choice. He thought. We’re all just slaves.

“What’s your plan?” Miles breathed out, his arm now limp.

“I’ve been watching the crew’s progress onboard the derelict. There are several redundancy stations across this ship. Backups to the bridge in case the ship should suffer severe damage. We go to one of those.”

“And you think you can just operate the Andromedan systems?”

“No, but that’s why we’re going to pick up some help on the way.” Glen clambered out of the cockpit and called out back to Miles. “It’s time we pay Dr. Philips a visit.”

Miles waited for a moment as Tannis left the shuttle. Taking the pistol and holding it in his hands, he knew that Glen Tannis had calculated even for this. The best that Miles could do was some fake display of force. None of the bullets were ever going to hit. He had always been holding back.

But something has to give. Miles stared at the trigger. Something had to be sacrificed. Otherwise the Free Exchange would win. Maybe someone else could take that burden, but he couldn’t count on it. The only person who he had control over was himself. And so it had to be him.

He looked up through the cockpit window and into the derelict. The old and rusted hallways of the vessel waited for him. They beckoned him forward toward a determined future. A future where his life was nothing more than a game of chance and the outcome set. A wager not even made by Tannis but by ghosts of the long dead. A wager that Miles was destined to lose.

And for the first time in Miles Kieth’s life, he was scared.