Erika was walking back with Amos towards the corridor junction as a golden barrier suddenly appeared before them. The two stopped to keep from colliding with the particle field.

“What’s he done now?” Erika rolled her eyes as Amos worryingly inched closer to it.

The Chief Engineer ran his eyes over the field. “It seems Captain Singh has redirected the shields. Our section is unprotected now.” The man took a shaky breath.

Erika reached for the comm and called Samir. Putting a hand on her waist, she paced. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Eliminating a threat,” Captain Singh responded. “The outer shields will protect you somewhat, but your section is still going to cook once we get close enough. You have a little under seven minutes to destroy the entity.”

“We’ve been down this road before.” Erika sneered. “You interfere with me, and I destroy the sphere. Your precious Andromedans die if you don’t reactivate the shield right now.”

She had known that Samir would probably try something, and she had sent Klyker ahead just in case that the so-called Captain was foolish enough to threaten her. Patching her Commander in on the comm, she paused for a moment.

“Shall I give the order, Samir?”

“The Andromedans will die anyway if they fall in the clutches of the entities,” Samir spoke firmly. “I am leaving you with a choice. Either you can destroy the sphere and die anyway, or you can destroy the entity and still have an entire civilization for your research.”

Erika narrowed her eyes. “Brinksmanship is a poor strategy. I would recommend you back down before you make me do something we will both regret.”

“Try me,” Samir threatened.

She turned in the corridor and briefly shut off the comm. Glancing at Amos, the man was more than worried. “I have a few more tricks,” she told him, “but there’s not going to be enough time if they don’t work out. Can you get us out of here?”

While she was certain she could bring Samir back to the table, she still wasn’t going to take any more chances. Not after everything that happened on the Hyperion.

Amos hesitantly nodded. “I can try to manually trip the shield. We’ve analyzed enough of the systems that I can try to divert the power flow. It’ll be a short window, but it should work.” He looked over the wall and hastened to detach a panel. Inside was circuitry and piping that looked dizzyingly complex to the untrained eye. “You should call the rest of the men to get over here. It won’t be long before the automatic system compensates.”

“I will.” Erika promised. “Just give me another minute to try to reason with Samir.”

She was about to speak back into the comm when she heard a plink. Erika turned towards the source of the noise to see a small hole in the metal floor with wisps of smoke trailing off. Amos turned his head as well.

“What was that?”

Amos quickly turned on his own gravity shield. “The outer hull is heating up. Some components can’t take the temperature. They’re going to detonate and become… projectiles.”

Great. Erika sighed as she turned on the comm again. “Klyker, you have our leverage ready?”

His voice came back clear on the comm. “Yes.”

Erika grinned. “Samir, you should know that Dr. Lukov made a great deal of progress on his research. The sphere stores the energy content quite similar to a computer storing files. That energy content can be vented into space. Deleted, if you will, much like a computer file.”

“You think I wasn’t prepared for this?” Samir asked.

She shook her head, already knowing what the man was thinking. “You convinced yourself that I wouldn’t destroy the sphere—it’s too valuable to me. Well, at least parts of it are. What will happen next is a random game of chance. Since we cannot yet distinguish the logs, I will merely instruct Klyker to delete ten percent of the total energy content. Perhaps that will cost human lives—perhaps not. What matters is that the number will go up for every thirty seconds you do not reactivate the shields.”

Erika heard another plinking sound in the background. It didn’t concern her. She knew Samir would buckle the moment she began purging the sphere. She was sure that the man had prepared himself intellectually for this, but once people started dying, Samir would have to give in. It was in his nature.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Amos stiffen as she made the threat. Don’t let yourself become distracted. She wanted to snap at him. The man seemed to be increasingly growing soft. She felt perfectly comfortable using Andromedan lives as a bargaining chip, and she wasn’t about to reconsider for his account.

“Samir, you have the power to stop this,” Erika spoke, knowing that she was running out of time. “Ten percent goes in five seconds.”

“…Go ahead,” Samir’s voice shakily responded.

So this is what we’ve come to. She wanted to curse at him. What happened here was needless loss, the result of human fallibility which time and again rose its ugly head. If Samir was perfectly rational, then none of this would’ve happened. Instead, his irrationality would cost her more research specimens.

“It’s done,” Klyker spoke over the comm.

Erika winced at his voice. This hurt her perhaps more than Singh. She was losing a population of humans which could forward her study by decades. Losing live test subjects was a devastating loss now that they might be leaving the Free Exchange behind.

“It goes to twenty percent in another thirty seconds,” she spoke resolutely in the comm. “How many more lives are you going to take, Butcher?” She added that name with all the malice that she could muster.

Now that Samir knew she was serious, the only question would be how far she had to push. Samir was a man with limits, and she didn’t have any. It was inevitable that he would break. She hoped it would be before she killed too many.

“Five seconds, Samir,” she warned.

She heard a sigh over the comm. It was a voice that she knew was coming. Erika breathed a sigh of relief as Samir relented.

“I’ll do it,” the defeated man answered.

Erika couldn’t help but smirk as she waited for the shield to come down. A few seconds passed, and she clicked the comm again. “Any day now, Samir.”

There was a momentary silence on the other end. “Shields aren’t responding to our commands. I have Dr. Lukov working on it—”

“Don’t try to trick me,” Erika snapped. “Get the shields up now, or Klyker deletes another ten percent!”

“I’m not lying to you!” Samir yelled back with a desperation that couldn’t be faked.

Erika turned towards Amos looking for an answer. The man glanced back at her. “It’s possible the shield emitter got hit by one of the components.”

“What about the outer shields? Why won’t they protect us?” Erika demanded.

“They can’t deflect the entire energy of a star at once!” Amos responded frustrated. “There’s a reason there are two layers. All the heat and radiation needs to be attenuated. As the Captain said, a little under seven minutes. Probably five now.”

“How long until you can trip the system?” Erika asked desperately.

“I don’t know!” Amos yelled back. “It’s going to take me three minimum.” He turned back to the circuitry and got back to work.

Erika raised the comm again. “Klyker, if we die, I want you to delete the entire contents of the sphere. Is that understood?”

“Understood,” the man said half-heartedly.

Erika wanted to spit on him. She could see the lie right in front of her. If she died, destroying the sphere wouldn’t be in his best interest. He was just likely waiting for things to play out.

She ran her hands through her hair. I’m not going to die here. Erika reassured herself. Once Amos got the barrier down, she would return to the sphere section. She would make Samir pay for this. Once she finally got the upper hand, she would see that man utterly destroyed for needlessly risking her life.

But first, she needed to concentrate on the situation at hand. Erika changed the comm frequency to the crewmen guarding the Inheritor. “Bring the entity over here,” she ordered. “The shields in this section have been disabled.”

Plink.

Erika wanted to smash her comm on the ground at hearing that annoying noise. It was growing more frequent now. One was happening every few moments. Above them, the hull was superheating. She realized that it was getting hot inside the corridor. Rubbing her forehead, she wiped away sweat.

“Amos!” she yelled at the man.

“I’ve nearly got it!” The Chief Engineer fumbled as he frantically worked.

Erika paced quickly back and forth. Gritting her teeth, she wrung her hands as time kept ticking down. She knew how it would happen. The hull would melt and rupture, venting the atmosphere into space. That might have been better than burning alive, but she wasn’t too fond of suffocation either.

She wouldn’t die here. Erika tried to reassure herself. Not after coming so far. Not after outsmarting everyone. Not after finally have the freedom to do things her way. Erika would get out of this, and she would make Captain Singh pay.

“All right,” Amos said, “I’ve got the system ready. We just need to wait for the others to arrive.”

“No,” Erika stopped beside him. “We do this now. Can’t take the risk.”

Amos ducked back out of the panel and looked at her in disbelief. “There’s seven men back there. We wait for them.”

Erika was done having her life being put at risk. This was far too dangerous. Things were out of her control. She was putting a stop to it right now.

“We leave now!” She shouted at the man.

Amos looked at her in disbelief. Picking himself up, he stood a few feet away from her. “I’m not going to abandon those men.”

Erika regretted telling him to prove himself. That piece of programming had been intended to see Amos off to go be a martyr while she remained in safety.

She had wanted to get rid of him, not to have her herself dragged into this mess. The future had yawned before her. All the possibilities of what she could accomplish had flashed before her eyes, and she was not going to have it taken away from her at the last moment.

Her hand raised the pistol before she knew what she was doing. It was something that she didn’t like to think about, but she wasn’t taking anymore risks after Captain Singh had destroyed the gravity core. She was now glad that she had brought it.

“Do it now,” Erika ordered, pointing the gun straight at him.

Amos looked at her in shock. His eyes looked between pistol and her, almost not comprehending that she was threatening his life. “You of all people told me to better man. Can you not wait a few minutes to save your crew, Captain Terese?” Amos questioned, still not quite believing his ears.

“This was never about the crew. This is about the greater good. I’m fighting for a future that you cannot even begin to imagine! That future dies if I die here. I’m not about to let that happen. Now...” She waved the gun towards the panel. “Do your job.”

“No!” Amos shouted back. “Those men back there aren’t going to be killed for your cowardice!”

Erika put her finger on the trigger. “You have to the count of three before I shoot you. One.”

Amos shook his head. “You won’t shoot me. You need me to reroute the shields.”

“Then I’ll try to not hit something vital.” Erika knew that she needed him, but she was out of options. She wasn’t going to risk dying here. “Two.”

Amos stepped forward and opened his mouth.

Plink.

The world distorted around Erika’s vision for a moment. Light refracted as her gravity shield deflected the piece of metal aimed at her. A second later, and the world returned to normal. Amos was caught in mid-step as he suddenly stumbled.

Erika blinked. It was too fast for her to process what had happened. Her gravity shield had worked, but the molten metal must have been deflected towards Amos. His computer which was tracing the round couldn’t have predicted the sudden change in trajectory.

Red began to bloom on Amos’ chest and blood soaked through the uniform. The man tried to breathe, but he collapsed on the ground.

Erika stood there for a moment, not sure how to react. Finding her senses again, she threw the pistol aside and rushed to the man. Kneeling beside him, she frantically tried to staunch the bleeding. She put her hands over the wound, but blood kept pouring out through her fingers.

“Amos!” Erika yelled. “Stay with me!”

She couldn’t let him die here. He was the only one who knew how to reroute the shield. If he died here…

Erika shoved that thought out of her mind as she tried to think of what she could do. She didn’t have any medical equipment with her. There was nothing she had at hand. And the blood—it was just pouring out too quickly.

The man coughed as he tried to suck in air. Amos convulsed as he tried to hold on.

“Listen,” Erika told him. “You need to tell how to reroute the shields. I can’t get you help if you don’t tell me how to get through!”

Amos’ eyes flashed with lucidity. His bloodied arm gripped her uniform as he pushed himself up with the last strength that he had. His mouth moved silently as he tried to speak. Erika tried to support him with her other arm, but he was too heavy for her. Amos softly laid his head back down on the metal floor.

“Tell… me.” The man gasped for air. “Did I choose the right side? Did I do the right thing?” He breathed the last sentences with all his strength, fearing that he wouldn’t have any later.

“That’s not—” she stopped midsentence as she saw him. The man looked at her with pleading eyes, begging her to answer before he died.

Her voice caught in her throat. A part of her wanted to continue her questioning, but that look haunted her. The desperation of the dying man clawed at her heart. The world suddenly stilled as Amos was bled in her arms.

Erika tried to find the right words, but they wouldn’t come. She had always known what to say and when. It was her science to do so. She was supposed to be able to manipulate and foresee everything. But all her calculations didn’t help her now. Her mathematics abandoned her, and Erika was left alone with Amos in her arms.

“You did what you thought was right,” she finally said, unable to come up with anything else. That’s all any of us can do.” She tried to comfort him as best she could.

She knew that was an omission of truth. Had her plan worked out, Amos would’ve helped in bringing about the species to replace mankind. It would’ve meant the downfall of the Free Exchange and a new dominant race in the galaxy. She knew that wasn’t the future he wanted, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell that to the dying man.

“Tell…” Amos choked up blood. “Tell, Captain Singh. He… has to finish the work. He has to do it on his own now. Tell him… I’m sorry I didn’t believe him.”

His hand relaxed around her uniform as the life drained out of him. Erika could only watch as the man grew weaker with every passing second. She looked in his eyes as the light dimmed from them. Amos never looked away. Every second he held his gaze, trying to hold on… and he was losing.

“I just…” The man’s voice was barely a whisper. “Wanted to do the right thing…”

Erika held him as he was fading fast. “I know you did,” she whispered back.

Amos fell slack as the life finally left him. His arm fell away from her, and Erika was left holding his lifeless body.

She found that she wasn’t panicking anymore. Erika barely noticed what was happening around her. It shouldn’t have hit her as hard as it did. She was planning to have Amos killed off for a while now, but it was a different thing holding the dead man in her arms after he had begged her for comfort.

Erika wished she could’ve given him a better answer than she did. She had wanted to tell him that she was leading humanity to a better place. She had wanted to speak about how she was going to save mankind. And yet, for everything she had seen and done, she was still holding an innocent man’s body in her arms.

She didn’t know what to think. A blankness took hold of her. Out of everything she had foreseen and calculated, she hadn’t expected something so needless and random. Amos’ life was snatched away by a trite accident. If her gravity shield hadn’t done what it did…

Erika realized just how small she was. Her life was so fragile that she had to pretend that everything was under control, otherwise it would drive her mad. But she wasn’t in control. She never was. Even now, she could die to such a meaningless thing

She heard footsteps coming down the hall. The seven men were escorting the entity down the corridor, but Erika didn’t pay them any attention. She stared into space as they approached.

“Captain!” One crewman came forward and shook her on the shoulders but she didn’t respond. She didn’t care to.

“Captain!” The man shook her again. She tried to speak but her words failed her.

“If I may speak,” the Inheritor began, “It appears your engineer was trying to reroute the shields to temporarily disable the barrier before us. If I may…”

The entity stepped forward, and the guards could only move aside. Erika would’ve given the order herself, but she was still numb.

The Inheritor reached into the panel with its steel arm and made one quick motion with its hand. She heard the buzz of the barrier flicker off behind her. The guards and the entity quickly crossed to the other side. The crewman beside her grabbed her shoulder and pulled her through as well.

Erika didn’t move as the barrier flickered on again, leaving Amos in the unprotected section. She didn’t move when the guards called Klyker on the comm for orders. Neither did she leave when they began filing out. A single crewman remained to watch over her, but she didn’t care. Erika just stared at Amos’ body as it began to char and burn from the increasing heat on the other side.

She knew the ship had entered the star now. In a few minutes, they would jump to the next solar system. They were very nearly free , but she didn’t care. She kept staring straight forward as Amos’ body caught flame.

Erika didn’t look away until there was nothing but dust.