Captain Tiller was a bit bored. He'd deployed the gravity bombs to rip some small transport ship out mid-jump, but until it arrived, all he could do was sit and wait. Grav bombs were tricky to use. They needed something to trigger them at just the right moment, something like a tracker onboard your target ship. Otherwise, the target just flew past without any issues. To further complicate things, this was a little closer to the core systems than he was used to working, but a job was a job.

Tiller was drinking what was supposedly coffee, though he suspected his supply officer had cut corners and gotten a cheap alternative again. So long as it still had caffeine, he wouldn't have him replaced, but maybe a day or two in the brig would convince the man not to mess with the captain's privileges just to skim a little off the top.

The rest of the bridge crew were nursing varying degrees of hangovers. Tiller didn't care if they partied a little, so long as they could still get the job done, and today should be a simple enough grab-and-go, so he hadn't issued any restrictions.

A moment later, the comm's officer spoke up. "Captain, looks like our bird is in transit. Should be hitting the grav bombs in about a minute."

Tiller nodded. "Alright, let's do this one nice and clean. Smash the shields, grab the pilot, and then we're out of here. I don't want to stay this close to the core any longer than we have to. And if anyone is stupid enough to detonate the ship or kill our target, I'll have you answer to the old man with me. Just do your jobs, and we'll get paid!"

The bridge crew sounded their assent, and Tiller sat back and sipped his "coffee," trying not to make a face as he did so. A moment later, the sensors went haywire as they picked up traces of what was supposedly a star where there shouldn't be one. Of course, that was the point, and it only needed to exist for a fraction of a second to do its job. Right in front of them, the telltale signs of a ship being pulled out of its jump by emergency systems were evident, and just like they were trained, his crew started firing even before it fully stabilized.

Everything was going as planned. At least, it was until Tiller realized the ship he was looking at was much larger than he'd anticipated. The man working the sensors cursed. "Captain, that's a bloody core patrol ship!"

Tiller narrowed his eyes. That shouldn't have been possible unless his target had an escort...or they'd been set up. If he survived this, he could worry about which it was later. "All guns, open fire! Do as much damage as we can before they can get shields up! Davidson, spool up the jump drive and get us out of here as soon as it's ready!"

It hadn't taken long before the return fire started pelting their shields. These core troopers were annoyingly quick to react. Tiller swore that if he ever found out who'd set him up, they'd discover what it was like to be keel-hauled in a vacuum!

-

Lucy let loose a sigh of relief after docking with the main ship. Phase one of her plan seemed to have gone off without a hitch. Of course, with her father involved, that made her more worried than relieved, but for the moment, she would let herself unwind. But that was for out there, in here, it was time to be a mother again. It was time to be Lacy.

As Lacy descended the ramp, she was greeted by Alice and Charlotte. When Alice ran up and hugged her, she was surprised to realize she returned the hug easier than usual. Perhaps she was getting used to her daughter's new form, or maybe it was just going out there and living her old life for a while that reminded her why she'd left it all behind. Regardless, Lacy smiled genuinely as she returned Alice's hug before looking up and around. "Where's Scott?"

As Alice broke away from the hug, she pouted a little. "It's Cleo's exercise time, so Scott's with her."

Lacy sighed and pinched her nose again as the metaphorical headache became a literal one. "That better not be what it sounds like..."

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Charlotte was quick to add her own two cents. "It is true. Scott and Cleo are currently using the exercise equipment in the rec room."

Lacy looked at Charlotte and smiled a little. "It must be nice to be so oblivious..."

A few moments later, Lacy was outside the rec room. Thankfully, Scott's prohibition on Alice being seen by this "Cleo" meant her daughter wasn't about to see what would happen next. Lacy took a deep breath and slipped back into her old self before opening the door.

As she walked in, Scott looked up, a little startled. "Oh, mom, sorry about that. I didn't get your message until we were already..."

Lucy held up a hand to silence her son. "Scott, out. I need a word with our 'guest.'"

Scott looked like he would argue, his face expressing teenage outrage at being so callously ordered about by his mom, but something in her expression must have gotten her mood across because he did as he was told. Meanwhile, Lucy focused all her attention on the other occupant in the room, whom she approached. The girl was about the same age as Scott because, of course she was. She was shorter than Lucy, but well fit in a way that bespoke lots of physical activity. With all her piercings and tattoos, she looked every bit the pirate she was and not so much like someone you'd bring home to impress your mother. "You must be Cleo."

The girl reached out a hand as if she was going to shake Lucy's. "Yeah, you must be Lacy..."

In a move so quick it had clearly been practiced many times, Lucy had a gun out and pointed under the girl's chin. "That's Lucy to you. Lucy the Red. While I don't like to parade the fact in front of my children, I've tortured and killed far more men and women than any pirate you've probably met. If I find out you're planning on betraying my son's naive trust in any way, I'll start by tearing out your teeth and nails and won't stop until you've stopped begging for death because the last shreds of your sanity have been forever silenced. But I'll give you one chance to come clean and earn my forgiveness right now. Are you working for my father, Captain Drake, or any of his men? If so, what's the plan?"

To her credit, Cleo looked genuinely spooked. "I'm not! I mean, I was, but that all fell to shambles! The whole plan was to lure your kid in and grab him while you were out, but he and those freaky spiders of his killed everyone, and I'm not stupid enough to pick a fight with someone who can do that! I couldn't go back alone, and I couldn't stay with the people we'd used as bait, so I took the only option available that didn't end in my certain death! That's all! I swear!"

Lucy wasn't sure she bought it, and in the past, she might have resorted to a bit of torture just to make sure. However, she doubted Scott would approve, and she didn't want to drive him away when they were just starting to repair their relationship. Instead, she pushed the subject. "How did you know what system he was in? Was it just you, or were there traps like this spread over several systems?"

Cleo held up her hands in surrender. "I'm not important enough to know anything like that! I was just part of the bait! I was supposed to get Scott to lower his guard and maybe earn his trust once we had him. Other than that, I didn't know anything! Hell, I was almost as much a captive as he was going to be!"

Lucy spotted the first flaw in the girl's argument. She reached up, pulled the girl's hair back, and pressed the gun tighter against her throat. "The old damsel in distress claim? Please! You don't last long with a crew of pirates by being innocent! Your hands are probably as stained with blood as mine!"

At that, Cleo finally let a bit of the victim mask slip as some anger finally revealed itself. "I did plenty. I had to! Like you said, you don't live long with a bunch of pirates by holding back. So yeah, I fought, cheated, stole, and killed my way into a place on the crew, but that wasn't the life I chose! I was just doing everything I could in a shitty situation to survive! Not all of us had a legendary pirate captain as a daddy to protect us from those who saw us as pretty pieces of meat!"

Lucy glared at Cleo, who glared back but otherwise didn't resist. After a moment of consideration, she finally released the girl and holstered her gun. "Fine. If all you really want is a sanctuary, we'll grant it. But I promise, if you ever betray my family, I will become your personal nightmare, and those creepy spider monsters will be the absolute least of your worries. From the core to the smallest pirate asteroid base at the fringe of known space, there won't be a single place you'll ever be able to hide from my wrath. Is that clear?"

Cleo rubbed her throat where the gun had been pressed as she glared back, though there was a little less heat in her gaze than before, as she answered. "Crystal."

Lucy turned and walked out of the room past Scott, who'd been waiting. She turned back with a smile that only had a slight edge to it. "Good talk. If you think of anything else you want to tell me, my door is always open!" Then she turned and left, leaving Scott looking back and forth between them, wondering what had been said behind closed doors.