Alen followed close behind Erik, so close that on more than one occasion, when the larger alien stopped, Alen bumped right into him. Erik looked back at the smaller man with a grin. "I get that you're not used to this sort of thing like I am, but you might wanna give me more space, kid. You stand that close, and I could catch ya with my elbow spikes on a backswing without realizing you're even there!"

Looking at the rather intimidating spikes, Alen couldn't help but imagine what would happen if they hit him in the chest. He swallowed hard. "Uh, yeah... you're right... Sorry about that!"

Erik just laughed, which seemed to be his standard reaction to a lot of things. "That's all right, kid. You're just new to this, is all! Give it a few more pirate attacks, and you'll be an old hand like me!"

On the one hand, Alen wasn't a huge fan of being called "kid." On the other hand, at the moment, his survival was ninety-nine percent dependent on the large alien keeping him safe, and he wasn't about to protest the label right now of all times. "Ah, yeah, well, I kinda hope that won't be a thing. I've already seen enough of pirates for a lifetime or two as is..."

Erik chuckled ominously. "Well, now's a bad time to get into the transport business then. Way I hear it, pirate activity has seen a huge surge recently. More than we've seen since before the vitexrā showed up on the scene!"

Alen had heard similar rumors but dismissed them as just that, rumors. However, his current predicament is making him rethink that assessment. "Why now, of all times?"

Erik shrugged a pretty impressive display of muscle and bone from Alen's angle. "Dunno. Why does anything happen? The time's just right for it, I suppose. All I know is it means I enjoy one of my favorite pastimes more."

That confused Alen. "And that is?"

Erik stopped and raised an axe, taking a moment to look back at Alen and grin. "Killin pirates, of course!"

With that, a pirate in a battle suit walked around the corner, only for Erik's axe to fly right into his faceplate. The pirate fell, but Erik was already in motion, running toward the second. He would have probably taken the pirate out before he got a chance to get a shot off if Vanessa hadn't beaten him to the punch with a shot over Alen's shoulder that hit the pirate center mass and dropped him like a rag doll. There were no more pirates behind them, and Erik shook his head while pulling his axe free. "Only a partial squad. Must have run into some of our guys who gave a good account of themselves. Hopefully, they got to pull back too..."

Alen somehow doubted that but supposed it was a nice thought. He also made a mental note not to stand so close to Vanessa either because now one of his ears was ringing. Still, that was preferable to what would have happened if he'd encountered the pirates alone.

Erik gave his axe a quick wipe to clean off the blade, and they resumed their hunt for Commander Ried.

-

Carter looked at the captain's chair with mild trepidation. He wasn't as intimidated by the seat as he had been of the "other" chair, but he still felt some sense of hesitation. "Anything I should know before sitting down and getting hooked in?"

The vixen walked out from behind Carter into his line of view. "There are many things, but you have neither the time nor the capacity for most of them."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

The girl shook her head and then adjusted her glasses. "Will you stop being so hard on the man? He's already done better than our last dozen candidates! I think it'll really work this time!"

Carter really didn't like the sound of that. "This time? What happened the other times?"

The pirate faded into existence while laughing heartily. "Oh, don't worry about those scallywags lad. None of them had the fire in their bellies that you do! You'll do fine! I'm sure of it!"

Carter crossed his arms and glared at the pirate. "That still didn't answer my question. What happened to the last few 'candidates?'"

The pirate actually seemed to hesitate, which was uncharacteristic enough to tell Carter there was something he was hiding. "Well, you could say being the captain of this ship has gotten a mite bit more difficult as time's gone on. You could say it overwhelms a lot of the weaker-willed candidates." Then, he suddenly seemed to return to his more boisterous self. "But I'm sure you'll be fine! The last few were just the dregs of their pirate crews who managed to get themselves stuck on the ship. But you! You're already a ship captain! This is just a slight upgrade, that's all!"

Well, that didn't do much to bolster Carter's confidence about sitting in the chair, but what else could he do? Just survive eating bug paste indefinitely? And that's assuming they even let him. A glance at the vixen was all he needed to reinforce that thought. "Alright, but if I manage to survive this, I get to make the first call on what we do next. And I mean just about anything, other than flying the ship into a black hole or something else stupid like that."

The pirate was quick to respond. "Agreed!"

The girl was a little slower but still nodded. "Agreed."

The vixen sighed. "Fine! But if you make us regret giving you that decision, I'll make you regret it even more!"

Carter looked at the chair again, willing himself to sit, but seemed rooted. After a moment, he finally muttered, "Aw, to hell with it. I'm not gonna live forever anyway!" and sat down.

He wasn't sure what he expected, but for a moment, nothing happened, and then he fell. It was like that moment when you're just about to fall asleep and suddenly get jerked awake, but rather than suddenly stop, it kept growing stronger. It felt like the world around him was growing, or maybe he was shrinking. He felt like he was slipping beneath the waves of a stormy sea. He tried to swim to the surface but just kept sinking. He realized he was holding his breath and tried to gasp for air, but his body refused to respond. His mind was so overwhelmed by the new world it found itself in that he wasn't sure it had the capacity for more minor, more insignificant acts like breathing or making his heart beat.

Then, the world went black. Or rather, Carter found himself alone in a dark room. It took a moment for him to regain his sense of self, and it took another moment for him to resume breathing normally. That was when he realized he wasn't actually alone. There was a hand on his shoulder.

Carter looked up, and despite the blackness of the room, he could clearly see the girl standing over him. She looked...well, he didn't have the words to describe how she looked. Something between divine and demonic, with a bit of humanity sprinkled in for flavor. Nothing about her changed. She still wore a simple T-shirt, blue jeans, and nerdy glasses. However, despite her compact frame, Carter could see she was somehow...immense.

The girl smiled encouragingly. "Oh good! You already remembered how to breathe on your own! That puts you a couple steps ahead of our last few captains."

Carter tried to wipe the sweat away from his brow but realized his hand was somehow both tangible and intangible at the same time. His voice was more than a little shaky as he asked, "What...what the hell was that?"

The vixen answered, "That...was you getting just the briefest glimpse of what it's like to be one of us. For a moment, you could perceive the entirety of the ship, and it almost swallowed you whole."

The pirate was there as well. "But it didn't! I told you the lad had some fight in him! Here, lad, let me help you to your feet!"

The pirate reached out, and Carter instinctively took his hand. Just as he remembered the AI was intangible and couldn't be touched, the pirate pulled him to his feet with a force that felt like it was about to pull Carter's arm out of its socket.

After the pirate let go of his hand, Carter stared at it, then back to the girl who'd also touched his shoulder moments before. "How...is any of this possible?"

The pirate laughed. "Because...you're in our world now, boyo!"