Roberts ended his jump shy of the target. Sure, distress calls like this were often legitimate, but it wasn't unheard of for pirates to use distress calls like this to lure prey. A quick scan of the surrounding area revealed one lone shuttle and no other nearby ships, but they could be waiting just beyond scanner range, ready to make a micro jump into position to ambush him.

Turning to his pilot, Roberts added. "Keep the drive spooled up and ready to run. If you pick up any incoming, I want us gone before they even have a chance to scan."

Eric nodded. "Aye, Captain."

Looking over to the first mate, he gave a different set of orders. "You're in charge of getting the thing onboard. Don't hesitate to cut and run if things start to look suspicious. I'm going to go down and meet it once it's on board. I'm still not convinced this isn't a setup of some kind..."

Thomas nodded. "As you say, sir."

Roberts headed to the bay, confident his men could handle whatever happened. They'd served together with the actual navy for a while before taking their ship and going rogue. For the most part, they'd been happy to do their job and get paid, but the orders handed down in the Wolf system had been a step too far, and they'd agreed to a man it was time to take their show on the road.

Unlike most pirates, they didn't prey on any old civilian ship they came across and even helped a few stranded parties for minimal compensation. They usually focused on the big corporations they'd once acted as the unofficial mercenary arm for. As a result, most other pirate groups didn't particularly trust them, but those pirates usually knew better than to pick a fight with a fully loaded and armed core battleship. However, there was always the occasional idiot who dreamed of such a ship for their flagship and thought sheer numbers would carry the day. While Roberts was confident his men could handle any such group of pirates, it was usually too costly to be worth the engagement, so cutting and running was the better option.

By the time he got suited up and met the ex-marines, all in battle suits in the bay, Thomas had already gotten the shuttle on board. He looked over to the man everyone just called "Sarge," there was always one, and nodded. "You know the drill?"

Sarge nodded. "Aye captain. If there's a bit of small arms fire from a bunch of scared civies, don't return fire, and let you talk em down instead. If it's pirates, we go in guns ablaze."

Roberts could already feel the thrum of the ship's engines revving to jump to another location and nodded. "Alright. Let's open her up and see what we got."

Flanked by the marines, Roberts triggered the hatch, but rather than a bunch of scared civies or lunatic pirates, they were met by just one woman with flaming red hair. She had a couple side arms that looked like they meant business, but they were holstered, and she looked relaxed as she spoke. "You lot seem like a bunch of real professionals. I like that. I've got a business proposition for you."

Roberts shook his head. "No thanks. I like the way we're already running things. Also, I don't particularly like being made a fool aboard my own ship. What's to keep me from spacing you and forgetting we ever met?"

The woman tossed him a data slate. A quick glance showed it to be the specs for her shuttle, but something was wrong. On closer inspection, the shuttle had apparently been laced with enough explosives to cut his ship in two from the inside. He instantly drew his gun and pointed it at the woman's heart, but she didn't even flinch. She just grinned wider and held up a device. "I'm assuming you know what a dead man's switch looks like, captain?"

Realizing things were quickly spinning out of control, Roberts lowered his gun but didn't holster it. "I do, and I also know it's a tactic that rarely works out for anyone involved. So what do you want that won't be worth calling your bluff?"

The lady nodded. "A moment of your time to make my proposition. If you don't like what I have to offer, I'll leave peacefully...once I have your word of honor, you won't turn me into space debris once I'm clear of your ship."

Roberts was incredulous. "And you'll just accept my word, just like that? You know we're pirates, right?"

The crazy woman nodded. "I do, but not all pirates are alike, and I don't think you're the type to go back on your word."

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Robert couldn't help it; he didn't like her cocky attitude and had to point out the flaw in her argument. "Even if that word is offered under duress?"

The woman shrugged. "Well, I only threatened you after you threatened to space me. I'd say we're even, so let's start over. My name is Lucy, perhaps better known as Lucy the Red, and I'm here to make you a once-in-a-lifetime offer."

Captain Roberts knew the name Lucy the Red. Anyone who served in the core systems during her reign of terror did, but more importantly, he'd actually encountered her once before. He'd served aboard a ship she'd caught in an ambush, but rather than turn it into a bloody shoot-out, she'd surprisingly negotiated a ceasefire and even allowed them to safely extricate all the civilians aboard the convoy they'd been escorting to safety.

Of course, the higher-ups had torn the captain a new one despite the crew's claims he'd done the right thing. The loss of money aboard the corporate ships had meant more to them than the lives spared that day. It had been a cruel awakening for Roberts then and was probably the first moment that set him down the path that eventually led to his own career as a pirate. He finally holstered his gun. "Alright, I'm listening."

-

As Cleo woke up, it became apparent that she had limited mobility. Opening her eyes revealed she was tied to a chair in her room, with her hands bound together by some sticky rope-like substance. Sitting across from her was Scott. He had a gun resting in his lap, and he looked pissed as he spoke. "Welcome back. That was a neat little stunt you pulled. What were you trying to do?

Cleo tried to raise her hands to explain but found them stuck to her lap quite effectively. Eventually, she gave up and just started explaining. "I was just trying to get to the rec room, like usual. I figured you were down and out and didn't think it would cause any trouble if I just did a quick workout on my own!"

Scott didn't seem swayed. "First off, you should have waited for me regardless. Second, the rec room isn't down the hall to mine and Alice's bedrooms. Why were you going that way?"

Cleo shrugged or tried to. He really had her bound up tight. He really was a Boy Scout! "I just heard Alice, the girl I've been playing checkers with for some time. I figured I'd say hi really quickly. I didn't think it would be an issue! How was I supposed to know that your sister was some messed up spider-human hybrid? What the hell have you people been up to up here anyway? I knew you had a bunch of freaky spiders, but that's some next-level shit!"

Scott's frown deepened, and his voice held real venom when he spoke. "Let's get one thing clear really quick. Alice isn't some spider-human hybrid; she's not some spider monster, and she's not any other weird descriptor you can come up with. She's Alice. She's a little girl who's been given a really shitty hand in life and is doing her best to be upbeat and cheerful despite that, and if you do anything to make her feel bad about herself or her new body, I will throw you in a room with nothing but metal floors and walls, and you'll get nothing but bread and water from then on."

That perked Cleo's interest. "Her new body? So she wasn't always like that?"

Scott sighed and leaned back, covering his eyes momentarily before responding. "Yeah, it's new. Remember when I told you my father hurt her? I wasn't talking about some broken arm. He shattered just about every bone in her body, her ribs pierced her lungs in multiple places, and she was dying. This was the only way we could save her."

Cleo couldn't help it; that just sounded stupid. "What, you just happened to have that thing sitting around to stuff her into? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad she's alive, but your story doesn't make any sense!"

Scott sighed and shook his head. "And it doesn't have to make sense to you. It's true, whether you believe me or not. The other thing that's true is that if you hurt her in any way, I will make your life hell because of it. Am I clear?"

Cleo nodded. "Yeah, sure. From talking with her, I can tell she's a sweet kid, so I won't give her more trouble than she's already got, but that doesn't mean I'm just gonna blindly believe your story either."

Scott shook his head. "Believe what you want. I don't have to justify anything to you. You're the pirate that was trying to kidnap us, remember?"

Cleo had to admit he had a point, though she wasn't about to say that. "So what now?"

Scott stood and sighed. "Well, maybe you're telling the truth and didn't mean any harm, but you still breached my trust. I'm going to revoke your rec room privileges for a week, and we'll be keeping a closer eye on you. No more wandering the halls without me present."

Cleo had to admit that was actually pretty generous, given how he could have reacted. It was definitely a setback, but then again, she had learned some pretty interesting things. Now, she just had to put the puzzle pieces together, so she nodded. "No more solo wandering, I swear."

Scott nodded. "Alright, hold still. Charlotte, cut her free."

Cleo froze but freaked out a little on the inside. Did he just tell his pet spider to free her? A quick slash from behind her back freed her from the chair, and when she looked back, Cleo tumbled to the floor, eyes wide in panic. There was an even more enormous spider than any she'd seen before, except this one had a torso, kinda like Alice did, but this one looked like some other bug monster, with giant scything blades. It slashed down, and Cleo closed her eyes and waited to die, only to realize her hands were now free. She slowly peeked, looking at the monstrosity that had backed away, and then over to Scott, who simply turned and left the room, with the new monstrosity following him.