Miles grumbled quietly to himself as he grabbed the mop. He was reasonably sure no one actually knew what swabbing the deck actually meant as he wasn't using salt water, there was no fear of fungus taking root on the metallic plates the floors were made of, and there were no wood planks that needed to be swelled by soaking them in water to make the ship more watertight. What they really just wanted him to do was mop the floor, but at some point, shouting the refrain "Swab the Deck, Miles!" had become almost a game to these loudmouths.

A pirate's life was nothing like the stories he'd read as a kid. Not that he'd expected it to be. It's not like he'd sought out the life of a pirate. He wasn't stupid. Unfortunately, the universe didn't care about his hopes and dreams when railroading him into this life.

However, in some ways, he supposed he was lucky. When the pirates raided the ship carrying him from his old life on the streets of New Vega to his supposed new life in an orphanage in the core worlds, he hadn't been killed like most of the passengers. Maybe the pirates had a bare sense of morality and drew the line at killing a twelve-year-old kid, or maybe they thought it would be more fun to torment the young bookworm every day for the last couple of years. Whatever their reasons, they'd taken him on as an "honorary member of the crew." Of course, in plain Basic, he was an indentured servant forced to clean everything from the Captain's quarters to the lower deck lavatories and everything in between.

Still, at least Miles knew every crevice and hidy hole he could disappear into by now. Of course, he couldn't stay hidden forever. If he didn't do his assigned "chores," life got a lot more miserable really quickly, but at least he could disappear during the worst, most rowdy times and temporarily escape into whatever books he could find in the ship's manifest.

Miles doubted that many people on board knew there were books downloaded into the manifest. None of them seemed like fellow bookworms at a glance, but one of the advantages of them downloading the files of any ship they raided was when everything came over, that included any entertainment indexes.

When tucked away and reading a good book, Miles could almost forget where he was, falling back on his old memories in the one place he could ever remember being warm and comfortable from his time on the streets, the library. At first, he'd only pretend to read books to keep people from bothering him while trying to stay warm, but eventually, he got so bored that he started reading them for real. Now, as they had been then, books were his primary escape from the unpleasantness of life.

Unfortunately, since he'd been "swabbing the deck" when the alarms started blaring, he hadn't been tucked away in one of those cubby holes. At first, he figured it was just one of the usual incidents. Someone had "accidentally" shot someone else with live ammunition on the firing range, or maybe engineering had dumped another barrel of used oil into the ship's water circulation again rather than disposing of it properly. He really hoped it wasn't the latter again. Even after they cleaned most of it out of the system, the water had tasted awful for the better part of a month afterward.

However, the alarms continued blaring for longer than either of those situations warranted. In fact, Miles was certain he could hear the sound of gunfire in the distance. As the gunfire got closer, Miles wondered if he should try and get out of there, but this was one of those rooms with only one way in or out, and that led directly out into the hallway the sounds of fighting were coming from, so he decided just to hope whatever was happening would pass him by. But, of course, whatever luck Miles possessed was not good enough to grant him that favor.

As the door opened, one of the crew members decked out in a full battle suit backed into the room, firing out of the doorway as he went. A moment later, an impossibly giant and terrifying monster charged into the room, kicking the man in the chest and sending him flying against a wall. The beast looked like some giant hybrid between human, cat, and lizard, with a bony carapace covering most of its skin like some sort of armor. What first looked like dreadlocks instead turned out to be bony tendrils, giving the warrior a kind of viking warrior vibe as it lunged forward with two axes, of all things, and buried one of them into the neck joint of the unlucky pirate.

Then, grabbing the now disconnected helmet, the monster threw it back toward another pirate who'd been trying to get a shot at its back. Miles tried not to look too closely, but he was reasonably sure the man's head was still inside the improvised projectile. The monster was deceptively quick as it launched itself at the second pirate, taking him out with a quick downward swipe of the axe that bisected a church of the armor and probably most of the man inside. Then, as everything became quiet, the monster turned and looked at Miles.

Miles didn't know what came over him. He knew that if two full-grown men in battle suits couldn't take this monster, he stood no chance whatsoever. But when faced with his inevitable demise, something came over the bookworm. Grabbing his mop like it was some sort of polearm, Miles charged forward, screaming at the top of his lungs, and he swung the mop down onto the beast's head, breaking the end of the mop off over the momentarily stunned thing's head. Then, pulling back, he stabbed forward with the now jagged edge of the map handle, feeling it uselessly scrape across the bony armor of his adversary.

However, rather than swipe down with one of those terrifying axes, the monster threw back its head and laughed. It said something in heavily accented words, and while Miles couldn't be sure, it sounded like it said something like, "I like you, kid! You've got more guts than most full-grown men!"

However, before Miles could figure out what the monster meant by that, one of its fists shot out with impossible speed and smacked him in the back of the head, making the world go dark.

-

Cracking his eyes a moment later, Miles was surprised to find himself sitting on the bridge from the position of the Captain's chair. The deck was covered in the corpses of the bridge crew, and the monster from before, now covered in considerably more blood and viscera than Miles remembered, was shouting over the sounds of the alarms at what seemed to be a three-way call with one old looking guy and another more clean cut looking man. "Listen, I don't know much about computers, but I smashed in almost all the hardware I could find! If the safety measures aren't disabled now, I don't know what to tell ya!"

The old guy looked over his shoulder as if listening to something, then turned back and nodded. "Whatever you did seemed to do the trick, I think Sybil can take it from here."

The other, cleaner-cut man looked a bit more nervous as if feeling kind of overwhelmed. "Listen, we're holding our own over here, but we're kinda cut off. I don't think we can get close enough to pick you up!"

The older guy nodded. "That's alright, we're about done with our share of the fleet. We'll swing by and pick up your friends before coming over and helping you wipe out the stragglers."

The monster turned and looked at an even scarier monster that looked like some kind of spider mixed with some sort of armored human. "Well, no use hanging around any longer. Let's grab the kid and get out of here!"

The new monster's voice sounded surprisingly at odds with her horrendous appearance, sounding like some sort of fancy lady as it bowed in a surprisingly demure manner. "Yes, my lady. However, it seems the kid you are insistent on dragging along has woken up. He's currently listening in on the conversation."

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

The first monster turned and looked at Miles, grinning as he did so. "Well, would you look at that! Listen, kid, I'd tell you this is all some nightmare, and it'll be over soon, but you just might be hopping out of the pan and into the fire here. But so long as you keep that fierce attitude of yours, I'm sure you'll be fine. Still, can't have you making trouble on the way, so..."

The first monster reached back as if to knock Miles unconscious again but was stopped by the second monster. "My lady, if you continue to batter the young one like that, it'll likely result in damage that will cause significant developmental issues. Please, allow me."

After hesitating, the cat/lizard monster nodded and stepped back. Miles tried to flee when the second spider monster approached, but the monster was far too quick and grabbed him with little effort. Despite its smaller build than the other cat/lizard monster, the spider lady's grip was like a vice, locking him in place, and she didn't so much as waver as Miles struggled to break free. A moment later, the spider lady produced a small needle from one of her hands, which she stabbed into Miles' neck. A moment later, the world went black for the second time.

-

Carter watched as Erik walked onto the bridge, accompanied by his ever-faithful attendant. She was carrying what appeared to be an unconscious teenage kid.

The Sybil's vixen personality was the first to speak up. "Oh, I see you brought me a new toy. How thoughtful!"

Carter shook his head at the virtual woman. That tight red dress might make her look like the woman of his dreams, but he knew she was more interested in his nightmares. However, he knew that despite her sadistic nature, she only had one vote in four, and he was about to give voice to his own opinion. "Pirate or not, that's just a kid. He doesn't deserve whatever you have in mind for him."

Thankfully, Sybil's next personality, the girl (so nicknamed by Carter because she looked like the stereotypical twenty-something girl next door despite being many centuries old), seemed to agree with him this time. "It's not like the boy came onto our ship of his own volition, and he doesn't look old enough to have had a choice in his fate. I suppose we can give him a bit of a pass this time. So long as he doesn't make trouble, that is."

John, the third of the Sybil's main three personalities, and the one who chose to represent himself in the clothes and manners of an old earth pirate, laughed. "There's be no sport in tormenting a lad that young! Give him a few years at least before you sink yer fangs in the kid!"

Erik, the giant viking-looking alien who always seemed split between joining John for a drink or fighting him to the death, grinned in response to the pirate's statement. "Well, I'll agree picking on the young isn't very sporting, but if you try to sink your fangs in him, you might find your belly full of a spear made from a broken mop handle!"

That got the pirate's attention. "Oh? Yer saying the lad has some fight in him, eh?"

Erik nodded. "Yeah, the kid charged me with nothing but a mop after watching me take apart two pirates in battle suits. Not that he has enough meat on him to be a threat, but I gotta admire his guts!"

Carter looked up at Erik, who had a habit of scaring people even when trying to be affable, and considered whether he'd have the guts to charge the alien with nothing but a mop. Probably not, though he hoped that had more to do with his pragmatism than his courage. He shook his head. "Well, let's see about getting you and the kid back to your ship."

That was when Vanessa spoke up. "I believe the boy is awakening."

-

Miles slowly and groggily became aware he was sitting in a rather uncomfortable seat that kept shifting and moving. What had happened? The last thing he remembered was being assigned to more mopping, and then things had gotten awfully weird, but that was all nothing but dreams, right?

As he slowly cracked his eyes open, Miles realized he was sitting on the back of the nightmarish spider woman from his dreams, with his arms draped over her shoulders. With an incoherent shout formed from a mix of fear and revulsion, he lept off her back. Or at least he meant to. As groggy as he was, it was more of a slip and fall than an actual leap. Then he bravely skidded on his backside across the floor, kicking the ground to put at least some distance between himself and the living nightmare that had been carrying him to god knows where.

When his back hit some unyielding surface, Miles looked up only to see the other monster from his nightmare grinning down at him. "Hey, kid. Sorry bout the rough awakening!"

Miles shouted again, and this time, he got half to his feet before scuttling away, only to stop short when a really attractive woman looked down at him as if she was measuring up a slab of meat. "Scuttling about on the ground like a cockroach. This is what you call having 'guts' these days? I can't say I'm impressed..."

Another man started laughing, drawing Miles' attention, only for him to freeze up as he saw what looked like an honest-to-good old earth pirate. "Give the lad a break. After all, it's not often one wakes up to be confronted by this lot of colorful rogues!"

That was when another girl spoke up. While she wasn't as striking as the scary woman in red, she was kinda cute in her own way. "Relax, we don't bite. Well, maybe it would be better to say we chose not to bite..this time."

That was when a more gruff-sounding guy spoke up. "Alright! That's about enough of that!"

Looking over, Miles realized it was the older-looking guy the monster had been speaking to on the bridge of his ship. He held out a hand, which Miles accepted after a moment's hesitation. Despite his age, the man's grip was firm, and he easily lifted Miles to his feet when he introduced himself. "I'm Captain Carter, and you're aboard my ship, the Sybil." He hesitated a moment. "Well, I say my ship, but in reality, I kinda share ownership with our resident ghosts." He then pointed out the women in red, the younger girl, and the pirate. "Meet the three faces of the Sybil. They're all a bit crazy...some more than others...but they're also good for their word, and they've decided to grant you safe harbor, at least for now."

Miles looked around. The three faces of the Sybil? What did that even mean? Then, his attention focused on the large alien who'd first knocked him out. Carter followed his gaze and nodded. "Oh, and this is Erik, our local viking alien monster. Relax, he doesn't eat kids. At least, I don't think he does... Hey, Erik?"

The viking cat lizard monster laughed. "No! No kids! Or humans at all, really. I'm pretty sure you lot would give me some nasty indigestion!" He then pointed at the nightmare spider monster that had been carrying Miles not long ago. "Oh, and this here is the ever-loyal Vanessa. She's good people!"

The spider monster managed to do a little curtsy despite having far too many legs to do it with as she nodded in Mile's direction, speaking in that same fancy-sounding language. "A pleasure."

Mile's mind was starting to catch up with his heart rate as he looked around at everyone on this strange bridge. "What...what am I doing here? What do you want with me?"

It was the viking alien who answered. "Well, we don't want anything, really. We just felt it was best not to leave a kid like you on a ship that was about to explode, so we took you with us. We didn't really plan anything beyond that..."

Miles looked around at everyone again. What did they mean about his ship exploding? Remembering how the monster had torn through the ship's crew, he realized the answer was probably self-evident. Not that he was going to mourn anyone on that ship. The best thing he could say about most of them was they hadn't actively tried to kill him. But at the same time, it left him feeling even more uncertain. As harsh as they'd been, at least he knew where he'd stood with the pirates, but now it was like his life was in free fall again. All he could do was ask the question, drowning out all others. "Soo... what now?"

The older guy, Captain Carter, he reminded himself, looked thoughtful a moment before answering. "Well, are you hungry? We recently upgraded our dining hall, and I could definitely eat."