Alex tried not to groan as he shifted on the bed. Six days of training, and he still hurt everywhere. Finally he found a sitting position that didn't press on the many sensitive spots, and he set about reading the new texts Marie had sent him.

    Someone knocked on the door.

    "Come on in!" Will yelled, not looking up from the game he was playing on his tablet.

    The door opened to reveal the captain. He stepped in, and leaned back against the door once it closed. Alex put his tablet down. Will glanced up and went back to his game as the captain looked them over.

    "Asyr tells me you've been working on fixing the computer." He said, looking over the shelf on Alex's side.

    "Yes, sir." Alex hesitated. "I'm just working on the central processor right now, it shouldn't have affected any of the other systems."

    "Nobody's complained." The captain leveled his gaze on Alex. "She said you're forcing it to get better."

    Alex tentatively nodded, unable to judge if the captain thought that was a good thing or not. "I'm not a computer medic, and what I've been reading on that hasn't helped me. The computer on the ship is so far gone it would probably take an entire team of medics to be able to get any results in a reasonable time frame."

    "So you're good at getting computers to do what you want?" 

    "Yeah, that used to be my job."

    The captain nodded. "I have a job for you then. We're going to board a ship, and the job's going to be a lot easier if I don't have to worry about that ships defenses trying to stop my crew."

    Alex stared at him. "You-you want me to help you rob a ship?"

    "Yep."

    "I can't do that."

    "I thought you'd agreed to work your passage off."

    "I am. I was cleaning the corridors, and now I'm healing the computer."

    "I see. So you're not going to do it?"

    "No." Alex didn't have to think about it, he wasn't going to coerce a system without corporate authorization. "I'm sorry, but I won't."

    The captain's gaze stayed on him long enough Alex started squirming, then he turned and left.

    Alex stared at the door for a moment, then looked at Will. "What did he expect me to say?" he asked.

    Will shrugged. "No idea, I'm no mind reader."

    "Does he really expect me to break the law for him?" 

    "It's his ship, he wants you to be useful. Got no use for you otherwise."

    "But I am being useful." 

    Will put the game aside and turned to face Alex. "Doesn't matter if you are. The captain's got to feel that you are. Otherwise, why'd he want to keep you on the ship?"

    Alex thought it over. "So it's a threat. If I don't do what he wants, he's going to space me."

    "Nah. The captain don't space nobody without real good reasons. He'll wait till we're at dock before he kicks you off."

    "But he can't ask me to do something illegal."

    "Sure he can. Not like anyone here cares if you do it or not."

    "But I'm not a-" he shut up.

    "Just think it over for a while. Figure out what's good about it and bad."

    Alex realized there was little to think about. "I need to get to Samalia."

    "To find that man of yours. S'got to be other ships going there."

    "It's at the edge of known space. I couldn't find anyone else going close except for this ship. I would have had to go decades out of the way just for a chance to find another ship heading there."

    "What's the rush?"

    Alex didn't say it out loud, he didn't want Will to figure out Tristan was a criminal, but the longer he took, the higher the odds he'd be imprisoned again. If that happened he'd never find him, prisoner locations weren't something that was available anywhere on the open net, unless he'd escaped.

    Alex thought about the case under his bed. If he couldn't get to him, there was no chances he'd be able to coax Jack out of him. Damn it. Why was this so difficult. All he wanted to do was save Jack.

    "Are you trying to convince me not to do it?" 

    Will shrugged.

    "Isn't your job to get me to go along with your captain?" 

    "Nah. He told me to show you how things work. I do that. He never said I had to push you into what we do. You're a good guy, you stick around here that ain't gonna last. Not saying you'll be an ass like Anders, but the good ain't gonna be all that good anymore."

    Tristan had used him. Alex hadn't been the first of his victims, the files had been full of names of people the alien had used to get what he wanted, and compared to most of them, Alex had gotten off lightly. If he confronted Tristan would he be that lucky? Or would he become one more name in files on Tristan? Was it worth the risk?

    Alex had no doubt Jack was worth it, and more.

    "Just sleep on it," Will said. "Let the mind mull it over. You'll have a better idea after that."

    Instead of answering, Alex stood, groaning as most of his muscles protested. He indicated the door, and Will opened it, then Will followed him outside.

    Alex didn't ask him where the captain might be. He would find him on his own. He started with the bridge as the likeliest place, and got lucky.

    The captain looked in their direction from where he was standing next to one of the officers at a board. "Why'd you bring him here, Will?"

    "I'll do it," Alex said, before his friend could answer.

    The captain raised an eyebrow and approached him. "I thought you didn't want to help me rob a ship?"

    "I know, but you're my only way to reach Samalia in a timely manner. You're right, I need to pay for my passage, and if that's the price, so be it."

    The captain looked at Will. "Ain't me. It's all him."

    The captain smiled. "Well boy, with your help, I might not have to sacrifice any of the crew on this."

    "First, I need to have a talk with you," Alex said. He looked around. "In private."

    The captain studied him for a moment, then motioned for him to accompany him. He led Alex to a side room, an office with a an old style desk, minimalist, transparent top, help up by thin legs. The wall had shelves with various objects on them, mementos Alex guessed, and one picture, of a younger version of the captain with an older man and woman on each sides of him. The three of them looked poor.

    "I'm going to try my best, but I can't guaranty what the results will be." Alex said once the captain was seated. There was another chair, but Alex didn't take it.

    "I thought you were good. Are you trying to set me up so you won't have to work much and I won't be able to complain when my crew starts dying?"

    "No! Of course not. I am good, probably one of the best out there, but that doesn't mean I can get just any computer to open its access to me. I don't even know what the computer is going to be like on that ship.

    "Back in my old job, before I'd try to coerce a system, Another department would compile files on it, who had built it, what core programing was used, by whom, even who that company coercionists were since they'd be working against me. I don't have access to any of that information here."

    "Can you get it?" the captain asked. "You've got some time before they get in range."

    Alex shook his head. "I doubt it. Corporations are constantly queried by a lot of different group, so it's simple to slip yours among those. I doubt ship are contacted that much. If I started asking question about this one, it would get back to them. I'm going to guess that what they're carrying is valuable, so they'd have people paying attention to that stuff."

    The captain nodded absently, then looked at him. "All right, what do you need, that I can provide, to increase your chances of success?"

    Alex thought about it for a moment, there was only one thing he needed. "I need time. I have to get the processing core as healed as I can, I'm going to need its help. And-" there was a second thing- "I need one of the boards on the bridge. Nano- seconds can make a difference here. The processing core is built into the bridge, so the closer my input is to it, the better the results are going to be."

    "I can't control how much time you'll have. I expect the ship to be in range between ten to fifteen days from here. As for the board, that isn't going to be a problem. I'll give you Asyr's board for the duration, she's hardly at it anyway."

    Ten days, he was going to have to do a lot of work over that time. That meant he had to convince Doc to pause his exercise regiment. And the training. That had to wait too.

    "There's one last thing. I need Anders off my back."

    The captain raised an eyebrow. "Have you been getting in his way?"

    "No, I haven't done anything, but he's gotten it into his head that I'm trying to make him look bad or something. Some of his people have threatened me and Doc had to get some people she knows to act as body guards for me. I'm going to have to come and go at all hours if I want a chance to heal the computer and I can't ask them to always look after me."

    The captain nodded. "I'll call you for the briefing later today. Be there."

    * * * * *

    Alex entered the room he'd been called to. Will whistled at the assembly, but stayed outside. Alex was intimidated. The captain was at one end of the table, and sixteen dangerous looking men and women were seated around it. Anders was seated next to the captain, and Jennifer was at Alex's end.

    "What's he doing here?" Anders asked, not hiding his sneer. The captain indicated the chair next to Jennifer and Alex sat.

    "Mister Crimson is going to be the key that unlocks the ship's riches, as well as the muzzle on its defenses. As such, it's imperative that he knows what we will do." The captain tapped controls on the table and read something. "Also," he continued without looking up. "Until further notice, Mister crimson is under my protection."

    "What?" Anders asked.

    "He is vital to the operation, therefore I can't afford for some useless vendetta to get in the way of what he needs to do. Am I making myself clear?"

    Everyone nodded, even Anders, but he glared across the table at Alex.