Captain Brian West glowered down at his security officer from his chair as if she had just left something foul-smelling on his floor; which, in his opinion, she might as well have done.

The KIS Bonaventure hadn't had a passenger die in over a decade now, and hadn't had a crewman die in six years. Promotions, pay raises, and the chance to switch tracks depended on efficiency, maintenance records... and casualty counts. Accidents happened, yes. But most of the navy were augmented personnel, who didn't age, and were dedicated to the cause; you you had to be damned near perfect to move up the ranks; the constant expansion of the fleet might mean they needed more captains every year, but the skill and experience of its staff meant you couldn't just be good at the wargames... you needed a real, established, record of dealing well with your crew and ship.

Losing a passenger... in a possibly preventable way? It would put him behind a decade, or more. He wasn't immortal; he couldn't afford that if he wanted to command a fleet while he still had flesh and bone.

He closed his eyes for a moment, and re-focused. "Jenny. Repeat that for me again... only this time in a way that doesn't make it sound like you deserve to be fired."

She grimaced. "... One of our known Alliance operatives on the crew disabled the security recording mechanism on the Observation deck, entered, and then fell to his death in an apparent accident whose only witnesses were two other Alliance operatives. One of these two operatives... had disabled security in the air vent out of his room, and may have been spying on someone else in the crew, or even robbing them. We were inspecting his room for stolen goods at the time of the incident, and had planned on determining how to deal with him after seeing if he had anything he hadn't boarded with; it might have simply been a covert hand-off of a data-chip."

She looked up at the captain; and despite the vast distance in height between the 3 and a half foot blond woman and her captain in his chair, there was no intimidation; she was a heavy-grav augment, and could break him in half with ease. The distress... was from her apparent poor performance.

"So. He was spying on someone, or robbing someone... and is now dead. Because instead of confronting him directly and tossing him in the brig, we decided to... investigate."

"Sir. General policy is that we don't mess with the Alliance spooks we carry unless they do something serious. This exact spook has done this four times before, and we usually just make sure he didn't rob or hurt anyone and ignore it."

"...Both of them are in the brig?"

"Yessir."

"....Well then. The only people to blame are HQ for setting the policy and the Alliance for whatever stupidity they told the man to do. Ugh. Apologies, Jen. I'll head down and question them. Barring something absurd, we'll just ship them hope and let the Alliance decide on charges."

***

The brig, amusingly enough, wasn't that different from her room. A tiny box with a toilet, a bed... the only real difference was the armored camera in the corner. The door looked the same; though it didn't open from the inside.

Seraph looked at her feet, wondering what the hell she was going to do. She'd just broken a man's arm, killed him... if they looked at the recordings they'd know he'd attacked her first, but... what would they do? Should she have pushed him? It was almost hilarious that, as soon as the ship had docked, suddenly it was a wide, open, flat room... the idea of someone falling to their death there was absurd.

She curled up on the bed, tucking her legs in, staring at the wall. She was in a brig. Completely at their mercy.

She'd just... killed a man. She'd felt his arm break. At least three times. Heard that terrible crack when his head hit the floor. It....

She tried not to think about it. She'd never killed anything for real before. She'd played games and killed things there, and it had always felt so realistic, so fun. But knowing that was a real, living, person... did he have an implant? Was he going to be waking up digital, or given a drone body? Head injuries were always a risk, even with implants; you could damage them, break them, and this... was definitely a head injury.

She might have just permanently killed a man who was genuinely trying to use a nonlethal weapon. He must've been Alliance, right? No way he could be ship's crew? He wasn't wearing a uniform. He'd looked... surprised.

She was rocking back and forth, still staring at the wall, when the cell door snapped open; revealing two men standing outside. One of them looked like an unaugmented man; the signs of age made that clear, as the pale-skinned figure had grey mixed into his dark beard and hair; and looked... exactly as a captain should. Tall. Broad-shouldered. Capable. Though... he looked more like a warship captain than a passenger liner one. Or was that a stereotype?

The woman beside him looked tiny in comparison... but the distinct slender build with adult features was practically a threat; she looked almost exactly like the marine from that one movie, who'd torn a man in half after they'd peeled her out of the power armor.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

So. Don't try anything stupid. As if she would.

She sat up straight, as the man studied her for a few seconds.

"Seraph Glass. Alliance Intelligence. Heading out of the Alliance for the first time to attend a convention for simulation enthusiasts. People who work on games and digital afterlives. An expensive trip, and a last-minute one... which your government is paying for. None of that makes sense on its face, but the sort of cover stories we get from your type are often inconsistent."

He crossed his arms, glowering down at her. "You may call me Captain West. In theory, I could throw you out the airlock for killing another passenger. But both of you are Alliance spooks. So. Explain yourself. Give me a good reason to keep you onboard, or to kick you off and let your paymasters get you a ride home."

Seraph closed her eyes, and gave a quick nod. "I.... was hoping he was just a thief. But if he wasn't... I.. am looking to defect. Leave the Alliance. I'm not sure how they knew... I didn't think I left any evidence they'd have found yet, but... he came up behind me. Tried to stun me." She felt her lower back for a moment. There were likely scorch marks on her outfit now. "And... I broke his arm... accidentally knocked him off the balcony. I didn't mean to kill him."

He nodded. "Interesting. Well. Since you're both Alliance citizens, and it was most likely self defense, I'll let an Alliance court sort it out. Your attacker disabled the cameras before stepping in, so I suspect they'll assume you were right. Defecting from the Alliance isn't illegal, just frowned on, so once the courts get through with you...."

She stood up abruptly. "No! I... I can't go back!"

He tilted his head. "And why, exactly, is that?"

"I'm not just an Intel officer, who they wouldn't want to let go but I might be able to wiggle my way out eventually...I'm an augment. If they get hold of me again, as soon as they run the next gene-scan, I'll either be executed or enslaved. Best case... I end up as the arm candy of some Alliance official. Worst.... I don't even want to think about."

The captain blinked. He looked at her... then down at the shorter woman... then back at Seraph. "...Thats...what? How does an augment get to work for Alliance Intelligence?"

"Its... an irritating story. But you can test me if you'd like.. just not the hair, that probably would read as normal. And...." She bit her lip. "Even if you do turn me over to the Alliance, I would sincerely appreciate it if my baggage could be delivered to a United Worlds embassy, or someone from the ASU. Or really, just anyone outside the Alliance. I'd kinda hoped to use it as a bargaining chip, maybe help get myself settled, but..."

He looked at the security officer. "Have her luggage delivered, and all three rooms searched. All of their contents to the brig as well, lock them in the other cell. They might have stolen something important from her. Also.... have doc in. We'll test her, confirm her claims. Tell him we want a full sequencer."

He looked back at Seraph. "For now, you've managed to buy a delay. We'll get you to your destination. Whether we let you off there, or just drop you off at an Alliance base is the question; if you're really an Augment, then you and your belongings will be as safe from the Alliance as we can keep you. If you're lying to me, I'll have you manacled and delivered back right where you came from. So... depending on whether you're telling the truth... either relax... or think long and hard about what got you here."

***

The 'Doc' was the fattest human being Seraph had ever seen. The blue-grey skin, the massive bulk; he was as wide as he was tall, at around five feet in both directions; and she couldn't even see ears on the man. If the Alliance wanted to use someone as a picture of why they considered augments to be inhuman, the bulbous figure would be the perfect example.

She was reasonably confident he would've survived that fall. Bounced, even. He also seemed... a bit irate, as he started taking samples.

With a guard looking on, he settled in place, glaring at his device, then back at her. "Alright. We'll start with the hair..."

Seraph nodded. "That will show me as normal, sir. You'll want a skin, blood, or tissue sample."

"Ahem. I said. We'll start with the hair."

He glowered at her... and when she sighed, and leaned forward, he snipped off a tiny bit of hair... before placing it into a tube, and pressing it into a slot on the machine.

"Now. Next, we'll take a tissue sample."

She held out an arm... and he shook his head. "No, no. It needs to be a random place. The best way to fool a test like this is to have a sample of fake DNA in a particular spot. Just close your eyes."

He waited until she closed her eyes... and then a sharp jab of pain in her left shoulder. She grimaced, and nodded.. as he backed away, and placed another tube in the machine. "And just in case.. I'm going to do two more. Go ahead and keep your eyes closed."

"...Yes, sir."

She tried not to think of anything at all, especially not the needle... as the bastard jammed it through the utility suit, first into her thigh.... and then her right foot... and placed them both in the machine.

"Do you have any idea how many rich idiots I have to deal with among the hundreds of passengers and dozens of crew here? I don't have time to waste getting dragged down to the brig for some Alliance nutjob to pretend she's an aug because she wants to defect. I've got four old women who think the acceleration is giving them diabetes, and god knows what else. Why are you...."

The man trailed off.

"...Huh."

He glanced at her. "...Well, hell. You're not lying."

Seraph smiled. "My job might be to lie to people, but I don't do it that often in my day to day life."

His face seemed to have lightened up a fair bit. "...The Alliance has had the tech to detect your genotype for decades now. I know you look normal... but how did you fly under the radar? Did you only recently get augmented, or does it have something to do with why your hair tests normal?"

"Pretty much just got augmented, just before I left."

".....Should've waited. Don't get me wrong, if I could afford the treatment, I'd get my genotype changed in a heartbeat. But doing it while still in Alliance space... crazy risky. And probably even more expensive, too!"

"It... wasn't voluntary. I was never a fan of the Alliance, but someone wanted to make sure I left, whether I wanted to or not."

The man just stared at her.... and then back at his machine. "...I'm taking you to the med-bay. We need to have a talk."