Benny's mobile display beeped, indicating a new life form appearing on the ship. He had sent the distress call barely two minutes prior.

Besides the glow from his display, the helm was completely dark. All the lights had been knocked out by whatever had been firing at the ship. Fortunately, despite the partial lack of power on the ship, the emergency shields seemed to be holding. At least for the moment.

Benny felt his way around the dark room, trying to find the captain's desk. Reaching it, he opened the bottom drawer and pulled out the emergency light from it. Turning it on, he placed it on top of the desk, the light powerful enough to illuminate the room.

"Holy shit," Benny gasped. As soon as the room was lit, he saw the captain lying on the other side of the room, just passed the door. His eyes were open and glazed over, a pipe protruding from his chest. The pipe, still partially attached to the wall, had apparently come loose during the chaos; the captain, thrown into it.

"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit," Benny whispered to himself again and again as he slowly made his way over to the body. He knelt down and pushed two of his trembling fingers against the captain's neck. There was nothing.

"I'm sorry, captain," Benny whispered. He gently closed the man's eyes and stood up.

Movement on his display caused him to look down at the screen. The new dot had started moving. Whoever it was had been here for three minutes, and seemed to be heading in Benny's direction.

A marble rolled across the floor and hit Benny's shoe.

Benny quickly took out his pistol from the holster around his waist, pointing it in the direction that the marble came from. He was pointing at a wardrobe on the other side of the room. The door was open just a fraction.

"Who's there?" Benny asked, trying to keep his voice steady. "I'm warning you, I'm armed and will shoot."

The door to the wardrobe slowly opened.

Benny dropped his pistol to his side, and then holstered it. "What are you doing up here?" he asked urgently.

Kit, a girl of six years old, stood in front of Benny, her head down. Clutched in her hand were two more marbles, the same as the one that hit Benny's foot.

"The captain would let me play with these sometimes," she whispered. "I just wanted to play with them. I thought they were pretty." She glanced up from her shoes, saw the captain, and then quickly looked back down.

Benny's hard gaze softened at the sight of the girl. "Hey," he said. He walked over to her and knelt down so they were at eye level, purposely blocking the captain's body from her view. "It's going to be okay. I'll get you, all of you, out of here, safe and sound."

Kit, fighting back tears, looked up at Benny and nodded.

Benny looked down at his display. The agent that the Island sent would be there in less than a minute.

"Alright, Kit, someone is coming for us right now," he said. "But we need to do this right. I'm going to need you to hide under the desk for me right now."

Kit looked at him curiously. "But isn't the person coming good?" she asked.

"Yes," Benny said. "I think so. But we need to make sure that they're willing to get everyone off. Which means no surprises. And you're a surprise, understand?"

"I think so," Kit responded.

Just then, Benny heard a knock on the door. "This is R.A.S. Agent Asya Daimon of Island 99, identification number 613924." A voice rang out from behind the door. "We received your distress call approximately eight minutes ago. We have approximately 24 minutes to get everyone off this ship."

Benny jerked his head at Kit, motioning for her to get under the desk. Once she was out of sight, Benny used his display to automatically unlock the door. He raised his pistol and pointed it at the door as a precaution. He didn't want any surprises.

A young woman, barely older than a girl, entered the room, holding a Light gun in a steady grip. Upon seeing his pistol, she slowly raised her gun, pointing it at the ceiling. "I'm here to help," she said.

Benny swallowed hard, nodded, and slowly lowered his own pistol.

"What's your name?" the girl, Asya, asked.

"First Mate Benedict Caseo," Benny replied. "But everyone here calls me Benny."

"Right," Asya said. "Benny, I saw two life forms in this area, I'm assuming the other one is your captain. Where is he?"

Benny knew the question was coming, but still dreaded hearing it all the same. His gaze shifted and looked past Asya, just to the right, his jaw tightening. Asya turned around, following his gaze. Benny saw her entire body freeze the sight of the captain. She gulped and turned back around to face Benny.

"What happened here?" Asya asked, Benny detecting a small waver in her voice.

"We were attacked, shot at," Benny explained. He could use a drink right about now. "The interior halls, where you came from, are fine. There's not much that can be thrown around out there, and anyway it's more protected. But in here, we didn't see it coming. He was killed at the first hit. After that, I had just enough time to put the emergency shields up. Once they realized their hits weren't doing anything useful, they stopped, but I doubt they've given up."

"Who are they?" Asya asked.

Benny knew. He just couldn't tell her right at this moment "I don't know," he said, hopefully convincingly.

Asya's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, but didn't press the subject. "Alright," she said, "we still have," she checked her watch, "21 minutes to get everyone off. But first, I have one more question," she said, as Benny began to move toward the door.

Benny stopped. "What's that?" he asked. He already knew.

"If the captain's dead, and there are only six crew members on this ship, then who is the other life sign in this room?" Benny saw Asya's grip tightened on her Light gun.

Benny's felt the blood drain out of his face. "I don't know," he lied. "The equipment must be malfunctioning after the attack."

"Don't lie to me," Asya said. "We don't have time for lies. I'm going to make this clear to you, as simple as possible. I don't trust you, we die. You don't trust me, we die. We will miss the extraction and will be stranded on this ship. Is that what you want?"

Benny stared at her. He knew she was right, and besides, he would have to tell her about Kit eventually. "Come on out," he said softly, looking down at Kit from behind the desk.

Kit crawled out from under the desk and from behind Benny, standing straight in Asya's view. Benny saw Asya's grip on her gun tightened, and then relaxed.

"Agent Daimon, this is Kit," Benny said.

Asya stared at him. "What is a five-year-old girl doing on a cargo ship?" she demanded.

"She's six," Benny corrected her.

Asya looked at Benny incredulously. "I really don't think that's the most important detail right now," she said testily. "Why is a six-year-old on your ship?"

Benny looked down at Kit, biting his lip. "It's complicated," he said. "And I think it would be better to show you than tell you."

Asya opened her mouth as to argue, but then closed it. She checked her timer. "Look, it's my job to get everyone off this ship," she said. "And I have 19 and a half minutes to do so. There are four more life signs on this ship. Let's just get to them. We'll deal with whatever this is later."

Benny breathed a small sigh of relief. He had bought himself some time. "Thank you," he said.

"Don't thank me just yet," Asya warned. "If I don't get us to the extraction point in time, we're all left here for dead."

Benny glanced at Asya's display. "That won't take long to get to," he said, pointing to where the rest of the life signs were. "I know how to get us there quickly."

"You better," Asya said. "Let's move."

Benny took Kit's hand and led her over to the door. Asya stood aside to let them pass, still eyeing Benny suspiciously. Just before he exited the helm, Benny stopped.

"Wait," he said.

"We don't have time to wait," Asya said impatiently.

"What about the captain?" Benny asked.

Benny saw Asya's expression soften slightly. "I'm sorry," she said, "but my job is to get the living out of here. We can't waste time dragging around a body."

"That body was my captain," Benny said sharply.

"And I'm sure your captain would want his crew and," she paused and pursed her lips, "other passengers to all get off this ship safely. But he's not here not to make that decision. You are. The choice is yours." Asya gave him an appraising look.

Benny stared at her in distaste. "All I wanted was a bit of respect," he muttered, turning back around. "Let's go."

Asya didn't say anything, but followed Benny and the young girl out of the helm.

As Benny led the way down to the cargo bay, where the rest of the crew was, he noticed Asya fall into step beside him and Kit. He also noticed that her grip on the Light gun had only intensified since leaving the bridge.

"No one is going to attack you here," he told her. "You don't need to be so vigilant with that thing."

Asya glanced down at her gun. "You were attacked by a group who you know, but won't tell me about," she said, "and there are people on this ship who are not supposed to be here, who you also won't tell me about. So excuse me if I don't exactly trust you, Caseo."

"She got you there," Kit whispered up at Benny.

Benny thought he saw a small, slightly smug, smile flicker on Asya's face.

"Fair enough, Daimon," Benny said. "Just do me a favor and try not to shoot me."

"I'll do my best."

The trio walked in silence for a few moments, but Benny, a naturally curious person and finally calming down from the chaos of the attack, wanted answers from the R.A.S. Agent.

"So, how exactly are you a R.A.S. Agent?" he asked.

Asya stared at him and raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean, exactly?" she asked coldly.

"I didn't mean any offense by it," Benny said, hurriedly. "Just, all the other R.A.S. Agents I've met have been a lot older. And usually male."

"You've met other R.A.S. Agents besides me?" Asya questioned doubtfully.

Benny thought for a moment. "Well, no," he said. "But I've seen some. And none of them looked like you. And besides, isn't it hard? Isn't there a lot of training you have to go through? I've heard that it's really easy to wash out."

"Yeah, there are and it is," Asya said. "But you aren't exactly one to talk about being young."

"Yeah, but working on a cargo ship isn't exactly the most challenging thing," he pointed out. "Plus, you can start training at age 13. That's what I did. And all you need to be an officer is to go through a bit of extra training. So really, young officers aren't that strange." Asya didn't say anything, so Benny continued. "Agents, however, you guys usually don't start until you're at least 18. And training takes what, like five years? So you should be at least 23, but since there aren't a lot of Agents that young..."

"Caseo!" Asya snapped. "Will you just shut up? You don't have to explain the whole system to me, I've guarantee I know more about it that you do."

"Sorry," Benny said, startled at her outburst. "I'm just curious."

"Look, all you need to know is yes, I'm young, and yes, I'm female. But I can do my damn job."

"How long have you been doing your job?"

"Since I was 18."

"And how old are you now?"

"20"

"Have you ever done a rescue mission on your own before?"

Asya was silent.

"Shit," Benny breathed.

"Well, I'm who you're stuck with," Asya said. "So let's not make this any harder than it already is and get the job done. You think you can help me with that?"

"Look, I want to get off this ship as much as you do," Benny said.

"Good."

Benny felt Kit tug on his sleeve. He looked down at her. "What?" he asked, gently.

"I want to be a R.A.S. Agent when I grow up," she said.

Benny looked at Asya, who returned his gaze. "Don't blame me for this," she warned. "You're the one who started asking questions."

Benny was saved from needing a comeback by the three of them reaching the cargo bay door. "Here we are," he said. "Cargo." He pulled open the doors.

The three of them entered, and Benny saw his other four crewmates standing there, looking relieved at the sight of a familiar face.

"This are way out of here?" one of them asked, jerking his head in Asya's direction.

"This is Agent Asya Daimon, from the Island," Benny introduced her. "Agent, this is Kaz Stone, Owen Kipper, Sted Augustine, and Cyrus Yost."

"Right," Asya said, looking at the four men standing in front of her. "And yes, Mr. Kipper, I am your way out of here. I hope that won't be a problem for anyone." No one said anything. "Well, if this is everyone, I guess let's head for the extraction point. We have," Asya checked her timer, "17 and a half minutes. It should be plenty of time."

"Wait," Owen said, "how would this be everyone? What about the captain?"

"Captain's dead, Owen," Benny said. "He was killed in the attack."

The four men were silent. After giving them a moment, Asya said, "look you can grieve later, but—"

"Kit!" a soft voice rang out from behind the four crewmembers. "Kit, is that you?"

From behind a set of double doors that Asya hadn't noticed, a woman rushed out. Kit, who had been holding Benny's hand the whole time, wiggled out of his grip and ran to the woman, embracing her.

Asya looked at Benny, then the other four crewmembers, then to the door behind them. Not allowing any of them time to stop her, she strode past the group, and threw open the door. Behind it were about 15 other people. They all looked terrified.

Asya turned around to face the crew. Her grip with vicelike on her gun. "Please tell me you aren't slave drivers," she said.