Victor nodded once to the deck officer on the other side of the entrance to the the Nexus bridge.

"I'll go in, first," he whispered. The man on the other side, Smith, nodded solemnly.

"I know you're out there, Vicky boy," said the voice from the comm, within. "Why don't you come out and say hello?"

Victor walked into the bridge with this hands held up. There were five men with guns walking menacingly around the deck, keeping a close eye on the present crew. Most of them looked like Victoria had, tattered clothing and somewhat dirty. One man sat in the Captain's chair, and when it swiveled around to face Victor he was surprised to find that this man was clean and wearing the well-kempt clothing of the other civilians. He wasn't from the lower deck like the others in his group, and was making no attempt to hide it.

"Well, well, well," the man said, spreading his hands out in an open and friendly greeting. "Welcome Victor. Or I suppose I should say, welcome back."

Victor kept his hands raised, searching for Eve, Rajia, and Miguel. "What is it you want?"

"You humiliated me," the man said "You humiliated me in front of all of them. What I want is your head on a fucking pike so everyone here can see that their so-called saint is really just a scared little punk who's in over his head. Then, in the final moments before you die, you will proclaim your conversion to the light of Dixonism and command everyone on board do the same." The man chuckled lightly. "You should never have turned back, boy."

Victor chuckled, too. He was dealing with forces and beings far beyond this stupid little terrorist idiot. Whole realities rested on his young shoulders, now. He was scared, but he was getting used to the fear. It was quickly becoming an old friend, along with the adrenaline that made his heart beat like a drum.

"By now you're wondering where your intrepid Captain Storm and her clever yet meddlesome friend are. Am I correct?"

Victor's chuckle turned to laughter. Same old story. He had to admit, they had gotten the Dixon message through and through.

"Why are you laughing?" The man asked. "You can't do anything or else you'll never find--"

Victor whipped out his pulse pistol and planted a steaming hole in the man's forehead. He looked up at it as if curious, then fell over dead.

All guns trained on him. The men were looking at each other for guidance now. As Victor had predicted, without their leaded they were lost. Victor carefully dropped the pulse pistol and raised his hands.

"There's no one to tell you what to do now. Drop your weapons and I can promise you won't be flushed out of the airlock when this all ends. Or you can die here. The choice is yours."

"Dixonites never surrender!" One screamed, firing at Victor and missing. The man dropped to the ground, shot himself by one of his comrades.

"We surrender, Victor. The girls are tied up in a service shaft underneath the fabrication depot. Maybe you are a Saint," the shooter said, putting his gun on the ground. He was a boy who looked a few years older than Victor. Nexus officers immediately roughly restrained him. The others in the room, the one's still standing, followed his lead and raised their hands. They were similarly restrained.

"Don't hurt them," Victor said. That was all that needed to happen, now. "What's your name?" he asked the shooter.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Rosco Wilkins," the boy said.

Finding Rajia, Eve and Miguel didn't take long. Victor took one other deck officer only and left the rest to guard and take care of the prisoners. Once freed, Miguel left without a word.

"Thank the Saints," Rajia exclaimed when Victor removed her gag. Victor chuckled.

"Aren't you a Saint, yourself?" he said.

"It's an expression, Victor," she said as she planted a light kiss on his cheek. Eve was silent.

"It wasn't your fault, Eve. They had hostages, and demanded you trade yourself for them."

Eve nodded, but Victor could tell she still seemed uncertain.

"You made the right decision. Only one person died, today. If you had chosen to confront them, I guarantee this would have been much worse."

"I know. But we need to consider what happens now," she said silently. She looked tired.

"Well, I can stay long enough to help you figure it out," Victor said, smiling.

Eve looked sullen. "No, Victor," she said. Her voice had a tone of finality.

"What do you mean, Eve?" Rajia said, nudging the other girl. They were all sitting on the floor of the fabrication depot, the large tool printing and replication machine sitting silently behind them.

"Don't you see, Victor? Here, it's always going to be like this. Even when we solve this problem - if we solve it- there will be something else. Then something else. If you're planning on leaving, I can't allow you to become an essential member of this crew any more than you already have. Not if you're leaving. So decide, now. Are you staying, or are you returning to the past?"

Victor was silent. He looked at the ground, unable to look either girl in the eye.

"That's what I thought," Eve said. She got up from the ground and spoke to the officer. See that Victor's shuttle is in working order. Don't add any new parts. Send him on his by day's end." She left briskly and without a goodbye. Rajia stood.

"It's okay, Victor, I understand," she said. But there was hurt in her eyes. "Goodbye." She too, left. Now Victor was, once again, alone.

At the docking bay the deck officer from earlier welcomed him with a salute. "Sorry it's just me, sir."

"It's alright. Take care of them, will you?"

The man nodded.

It was a quiet ride on the shuttle back as Victor peered out at the possible worlds and let his mind wander. Would he really find Nexus exactly as he had left it? Would it be different somehow?

He kept looking at the com anxiously, hoping that Eve or Rajia, or even Miguel would wish him a good journey and say a proper goodbye. No such communication came.

Victor passed through the bubble to the gleaming and clean version of Nexus. A Nexus that didn't really need him except for a certain black data cube he carried. It was funny: when he had been on the other Nexus originally, he'd thought that they didn't need him. Now he knew it wasn't so. They did. But he could worry about going back to that Nexus after he handled the situation with this one.

A docking bay opened on the whole Nexus and he parked his craft. His brow furrowed. This docking bay had housed only one ship when he had been on board Nexus. It should still be empty. But there was another shuttle already inside.