Carter looked at the chair with more than a bit of trepidation while having second and even third thoughts. On the one hand, he didn't really want to have to fight off another pirate invasion. He'd come closer to death than he'd like to think about on more than one occasion, and the idea of getting in another escape pod and drifting for who knows how long out here didn't appeal to him either. On the other hand, that chair looked horrific. He turned to the girl. "You didn't bother trying to make it look like anything other than a horror movie prop, did you?"

The girl shrugged. "Well, back in my day, we were more concerned with function than form. It got the job done relatively safely and didn't require an entire team of surgeons to make it happen."

Carter shook his head. "Do you know how bizarre it is to hear a girl who looks maybe twenty-five say 'back in my day' to a man well into his thirties? Also, what do you mean reasonably?"

The girl pushed up her glasses as she gazed at him. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I've got more decades to my name than you've got years, more than that if you count the fact that I never sleep, so I'm living through thirty-three percent more time than you."

Carter wasn't swayed. "I noticed you didn't answer my question."

The girl shook her head. "What do you want from me? It's reasonably safe, and by reasonably, I mean reasonably. Is it an absolute guarantee? No. But you well know nothing in life ever is. I can tell you we've only had one fatality, and..."

Carter cut her off. "You're reasonably sure he was on some drugs that didn't react well with the pain meds you use, I know. Still, couldn't you have lied and said no one ever died?"

Now, the girl was smirking. "Oh, is that how you want us to run your captaincy? Just telling you what you want to hear? You'll live a nice, worry-free life right up until the pirates we never told you about so you could avoid stressing about them board the ship and execute you."

Carter shook his head as he turned his attention back to the chair, but he had to admit she did have a point despite all the exaggeration. It was always better to be informed...well, almost always.

With a sigh, Cater realized he was just delaying the inevitable. "Alright. So how do we do this?"

The girl seemed to pat the chair. "You sit, and we do the rest."

For a moment, Carter's feet seemed incredibly heavy, too heavy to move, but then the moment passed, and he took a step forward, then another, and soon he was standing right next to the chair. He carefully sat down and was only mildly surprised when a series of straps suddenly wrapped around his limbs, torso, and even neck, locking him in place.

Struggling to look at the girl out of the corner of his eyes, Carter asked. "Okay, so what next?"

A sharp, piercing pain in the back of his neck answered that question, making Carter yell out. "Ow! What the hell! I thought you were gonna use pain meds?"

The girl leaned over so he could see the smirk on her face as she answered. "That was the pain meds."

Carter started to complain that the meds needed a pain med, but all that came out was an articulate, "Theghawaneedfamaineds..." and then his eyelids suddenly felt very heavy.

*  

Alen looked at the ruined console. Sure, the flechette rounds might be no danger to the hull or harder surfaces, but to the delicate electronics of a workstation, they certainly did more than enough, just as they had to the shipwide communication hub. Erik was looking over his shoulder. "So, uh, do we know where the other pirates still are? Or did we get the last of them?"

Alen shook his head. He could have probably figured out how to work the unfamiliar station under normal circumstances but in its current condition... "I have no idea. But it didn't sound good based on the reports we were getting before the pirates cut their way in here."

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The captain scowled. "There are too many of them, and they're too well armed. I think it's time to implement the lockdown protocol."

Alen didn't even realize this ship had such a system in place. They were typically reserved for military vessels. "But wouldn't that just leave us dead in space, with the pirates still aboard?"

The captain shook his head. "Not if we evacuate while they're still struggling to get out of their suits. Then we just have to wait for help to arrive."

It would solve some of their problems but would open a whole new set of possible issues. "What if more pirates show up first?"

The captain shrugged. "Then we'd be dead anyway. We're in no condition to fight back against a shuttle with someone leaning out the back hatch with a rifle. This will preserve what's left of the ship and the crew, and we're not without friends in the area."

Alen sighed but realized there was one last issue with communications now being down. "Well, I don't have any better ideas. But what about Ried? Wouldn't he have the same issue as the pirates?"

The captain nodded. "He would unless someone warned him ahead of time. Besides, that'll give you and your friends a chance to get closer to an escape pod before I flip the switch."

Realizing he'd just been voluntold to go out and find Ried and his team, Alen was suddenly very glad he was on good terms with the maniac who'd just taken down a bunch of pirates with nothing more than a couple of axes.

Looking up at said maniac, it was evident, based on his grin, that Erik was ready to go. A point he then reinforced. "So, sounds like we gotta kill more pirates then?"

*  

Carter found himself back aboard his ship, the Lucy. Had that all just been one messed-up dream? No, he must still be under, and this was the dream. The proof appeared when the girl materialized next to him in the co-pilot's chair, which had never seen use as long as the ship had been in Carter's hands. She looked around with a grimace. "Okay, this place is disgusting. You're not planning on running the Sybil like this, right?"

Carter leaned back and sighed. "Is it not enough that I have to deal with you when I'm awake? Now I'm starting to dream of you?"

The girl grinned. "Oh, I'm no dream!"

Before Carter could protest, the girl waved her hands around, indicating the ship. "Oh, this is a dream, but I'm the real deal. I was just testing to see if the connections were all hooked up properly, so I popped in to say hi and see what you had going on here."

Carter didn't like the implications behind that. "Wait, so you can just pop into my mind now? You felt it was important to mention the guy who died in the chair but didn't think that was worth mentioning?"

The girl shrugged. "I can't keep track of every little detail I have and haven't told you! Besides, what did you think you'd be hooking into? The microwave in the dining hall?"

Carter turned and held his hand up, pointing at the ceiling. "This is a pretty big 'detail,' don't you think? Also, yes, you can keep track of every little detail because you're an AI, and that's literally what you do!"

The girl suddenly looked annoyed. "I've already told you. No, I'm not an AI. I'm something...different."

Carter was about to point out that she was arguing semantics when the girl pointed toward the front screen. "Umm, you might want to avoid that."

Seeing a giant asteroid about to hit his ship, Carter reached for the controls, only to open his eyes and realize he was still in the chair. He looked around, trying to get his bearings. "What happened? Where am I? What's going on?"

The girl was apparently waiting for him. "You woke up. You're still on the Sybil. The procedure is over. Congratulations, you are now officially our captain."

Carter shook his head, then reached behind himself, only to feel an odd metallic bump on his neck. The girl kept an eye on him as if observing his reaction. "I wouldn't mess with that too much. Your skin around the hookup is still adapting to the device and will probably be sensitive for a few days."

Then, remembering his dream, Carter's hand fell away slowly as his attention focused on the girl. "That dream just now... Did that really..."

The girl smiled mischievously. "That depends. Do you want me to lie to keep you happy, or do you want the truth?"

Carter fought the urge to roll his eyes in annoyance. "The truth."

The girl shrugged. "Then I stand by my words. Your ship was disgusting. I'm pretty sure some of the old food you had in containers in the back had evolved into sentient life again." She hesitated momentarily, "But if it makes you feel any better, that connection only works as long as you're hooked up to the ship. The rest of the time, your mind is your own. It also works both ways. You can see into us as much as we can see into you. Learning to use your new connection will take some practice, but I'm confident you can handle it."

A sullen voice in the room told Carter the vixen was also there. "I'm not. He'll probably go mad quicker than the rest."

The laughter that boomed in the room meant they had a full house as the pirate responded to the vixen's jab. "Ye better hope not! We need the captain to stay sane long enough to get us up and running properly again!"

Carter let himself fall back into the chair, wondering how far down this rabbit hole would have to fall before it was all said and done...