I sat at the bar in the Lounge. A plastic cup of bourbon was in my hands as I gazed aimlessly at the dusty robotic arm. It had creaked and groaned as it served my drink, but it had done so nonetheless. It was one thing I liked about computers. They always did as asked.

    My thoughts were spinning. I felt backed into a corner that I had no way of exiting. Before the trip to Earth, I had the option of waking more crew members to help me. Now I didn't. A ghost had broken into the ship and taken that chance away. Besides that, I had left the remains of Earth behind, demoted a Bridge officer, gotten us thrown into the spotlight publicly, and figured out that bourbon did not last well when left to sit for five and a half centuries.

    What am I supposed to do? I pressed my hand against my cheek, sighing softly. I have to wake the crew. I'm not the Captain. Yet I can't do it. Now I don't even have the choice of waiting years for them to wake because we don't have the power to keep charging from solar power. Electron batteries don't exist on Zoel. Earth is gone. What am I supposed to do?

    No one, not even I, had the answer.

    My thoughts were running in circles and circles and circles, like an ignorant dog chasing its tail. I felt that trapped. The pressure to make a decision pressed down on my body, making it hard to breathe. I closed my eyes and took a breath and forced oxygen into my blood. I exhaled slowly.

    There was one option to take. We had to go after the one electron battery that had been stolen. With it plugged back into the ship, it would be able to slowly gain power over time and wake the crew gradually. I looked down at the overly-old bourbon in my glass. Without hesitation I shot it down and got up. My feet carried me back to the Bridge. I found Officer Peterson sitting at his station and staring at the shutters over the front of the ship that allowed small beams of light to illuminate the dust.

    "Are you alright, Officer?"

    He jumped so hard that he fell out of the chair. Instead of sympathy, I felt suspicion. "Officer?"

    "I'm okay!" He scrambled upright and blinked at me. "I had dozed off is all."

    He was a terrible liar. My eyebrows rose and I decided to leave it be. "Pull up the computer log. We're going to find that intruder and get the electron battery back."

    "Yes, First Officer." Peterson sat back down and activated his station. The bean-shaped screen lit up. He looked up. "What about Officer – I mean Dr. Byrne?"

    "She will remain on the ship but on strike. If she attempts anything again then she will be dismissed from the crew."

    Officer Peterson hesitated. His hands hovered over the station. "If I may, First Officer?"

    "Go ahead." I sat down at my own station and the screen flickered on.

    "All Dr. Byrne did was speak against your beliefs," he said carefully. "I had been under the impression that we are allowed to say what we wish so long as we do not incite violence unlawfully."

   I didn't look up, answering easily. "She has clear disrespect for my rank, which I do not tolerate. She had no intentions of obeying any order I gave her. It was best to demote her so that she would not try anything truly drastic. It's safer for all of us with her no longer on the Bridge."

    Officer Peterson nodded absently, turning back to his station. I pulled the small knife from my belt and examined the empty hilt. I'd snatched it from the soldier after noticing the same mark from the other zodiac I'd seen. I examined the black knife hilt and saw a small slit where the knife would normally sit. After some further looking, I found a tiny switch on the underside of the bar and flicked it.

     There was a burst of yellow sparks. After they dissipated there was a wavering, starkly yellow light that held the shape of a triangle about eight inches long. It looked like a laser. Curiously, I got up to test it on one of the strapped-down seats at the back of the Bridge. My hand met no resistance as I sliced at the edge. The energy blade cut right through.

    "What do you suppose this is?" I inquired of Officer Peterson, holding up the knife for him to see. His eyes widened. "I don't know." He hesitated briefly before adding, "I can complete the database download on your station so that you may look it up."

    "Excellent." He got up and tenderly sat down at my station. I noticed the skittishness of his movements before turning and heading to Byrne's old station. It turned on as I sat down and accessed her newly-added information files. A flick of the switch on the hilt deactivated the knife. A few moments later and I found the information I was searching for. This was a zodiac – an aquarius, specifically. It was classified as a level one, at the lowest end of the danger scale. I tucked it into my pocket and pulled up the security camera footage. While Officer Peterson worked on my station, I began to search for clues as to what the intruder had done or who he was or where he had come from.

    Half an hour later and my communication clasp buzzed. I answered the call, knowing it was Dr. Byrne. "Yes?"

    "First Officer, I think I've found something in the chamber room. It just might aid us in finding out how the intruder seemed to disappear."

    Officer Peterson looked over as I nodded. "I'm on my way." The call clicked off as I got up. Officer Peterson hastily closed something from my station and something seemed to crawl down my back warily. He got up to follow me. There was no trace of what he had been doing on my station.

    "Did you finish the upload, Officer?"

    "Just about, First Officer," he answered. "It will need a little longer to organize for you, so it's best to be left alone for a bit."

    He's smart but an awful liar. He was obviously trying to keep me from using my station for some period of time. I knew that he couldn't have done anything drastic without the computer having asked for my handprint or passcode. That was the only hint to what he was doing.

    I hated being suspicious of my own crew. Shaking my head slightly, I turned to head to the chamber. Officer Peterson followed as we headed down the elevator and opened to the hallway to the chamber. I opened the door with my palm print and they slid open and out of sight. My eyes barely saw the number of opened capsules before something slammed into my back of my knees.

    They buckled from under me. I grunted and reacted, rolling to the side and reaching for my glock. A large hand caught my wrist and twisted it backwards. The action nearly tore my arm from my socket. I snarled under my breath and recognized the pin I was about to be put in. Tucking in my legs, I went to twist to the side in the only maneuver that would stop the trap, but I'd misjudged the timing. An arm caught the front of my neck and the barrel of a weapon pressed against my temple. The large man used his leg to twist mine backwards and the trap was complete.

    My skin tingled with awareness of the unfamiliar weapon against my skull. With my arm and leg both in danger of breaking, I had no choice but to fall still. My eyes darted around the room to find three extra capsules opened and empty. One body was on the ground, a towel thrown over his hips. Bridge Officer Edwards had a large welt on his bare head. Bridge Officer Bird stood over him, a glock in his hands and aimed at the back of Officer Edwards' head. His skin gleamed from the slime of the capsule and a pair of shorts thrown on.

    The other chamber that was open was Combat Officer Abel Decker. My lips curled as I realized that was who had pinned me. And right in the center of it all stood Byrne. Her hands fell to her hips and she smirked faintly. "Well done, Officer Decker." She had obviously woken all of them. How, I didn't know.

    He grunted as I tugged faintly at one arm. "I got lucky."

    "What the hell are you doing, Byrne?" I growled at her. "What have you done?"

    She tilted her head, eyes flashing. "I'm doing what you don't have the guts to, Genevieve Autumn. Sometimes you just have to take risks."

    "You mean taking lives!" I snarled back. "Now if we so much as use any of the power the ship has, we kill a crewmember. You took an oath as an officer, Byrne. You took an oath as a doctor. Might as well get rid of both in one fell swoop, huh?"

    Byrne's lip curled. "My oath to my Captain comes first, as it should've for you. But I've figured you out, Autumn."

    Faint footsteps entered the room. My eyes darted to Officer Peterson as he walked in, tablet to his chest. My heart sank as he headed to Byrne. Of course he had been in on the ambush. I hadn't exactly worked very hard to gain their trust. I shouldn't have needed it. However this explained how Byrne had awoken the Bridge crew. She had sent the confirmation to my station and Peterson had confirmed them while he pretended to work on it. They had planned this all out.

    I growled under my breath, testing Officer Decker's grip. It was strong, even for a man with nearly no muscle mass. The pin was perfect. I had no way of getting out on my own. "What do you think you're going to do now? You obviously have some sort of plan."

    "Of course I do." Byrne rested a hand on the Captain's capsule. "You're going to wake up the Captain."

    "Like hell I am," I spat at her. "Even if the process doesn't severely hurt him, it'll kill a member of the crew."

    Byrne wasn't deterred. She pulled out a weapon similar to a glock. It had a larger barrel that had a faint yellow glow from within. Somehow she had gotten hold of zodiacs without my knowing. "You will. And then I'm going to throw you into the brig for treason."

    My barked out laugh was sardonic. "Me? You want to throw me for treason? How arrogant do you have to be, Byrne?"

    "I'm not stupid!" She spat out. "I know this whole little charade has been your plan to take the Captain's title. At every turn we finally start to get somewhere, you twist it around and back us up. I'm not letting you do it. So you're going to wake the Captain and face the consequences for treason."

    I scoffed aloud. "You seriously believe her, Officer Decker?"

    His arm at the front of my throat stiffened. His deep, scratchy voice replied, "What else am I supposed to believe? She has an incredible amount of evidence."

    "Circumstantial evidence if anything at all," I grunted. "And what did Edwards do to deserve his treatment, hm?"

    "He wouldn't believe us." Byrne glanced at the unconscious body, unbothered. "He kept saying that I had to be wrong when I know I'm not. He'll see the error in his ways once the Captain is awake."

    "And how are you going to do that?" I challenged. "You need my voice code and my handprint. You can force the handprint but not the code. You won't hurt me because you need me." My silent prod hit her enough that her eyes narrowed. Who has the power now, Byrne?

     "I'm being merciful here, Autumn," she said darkly. "Wake him up and maybe he and I will be lenient with you. If not, then I will do everything I can to ensure you are left on this planet with nothing to your name except a brand as a traitor."

    He and I. She expects to take my position. My lips curled. "What makes you think the Captain will ever believe you, much less make you First Officer?"

    I'd finally hit a nerve. Her back stiffened. I attempted to use the chance of distraction to escape. I threw my head backwards and hit Officer Decker's nose. He grunted and I made to jam my free elbow into his solar plexus.

    There was a flash of yellow. Heat seared past my side and pain shot through my upper arm. I let out a gritted grunt and saw smoke drift from the weapon Byrne was holding. She cocked it again in warning. Blood dripped from the side of my arm where the energy blast had grazed it. Officer Decker was able to tighten his grip again, his lips and chin scarlet.

    A pained sound left my lips before I clamped them shut. My chest heaved slightly as I spat onto the ground. "You're such a fool, Byrne. Your own arrogance is going to cost a life. And you've guaranteed it."

    "It's not my fault for what is happening," she growled back. "Computer, initiate Operation Dawn on Captain Silk Thorn."

   "Error." The computer's tone rang through the room. Officer Bird looked around warily. "Unauthorized personnel."

   Byrne glowered. "Right. I got booted from the system." She glared pointedly at Peterson. He coughed before speaking, his voice wavering. "Computer, initiate Operation Dawn on Captain Silk Thorn."

   "Affirmative. Confirmation from First Officer required. Place handprint on scanner."

   Officer Bird tucked his weapon into his pant line and headed my way. I hissed between my teeth as he grabbed my arm and forced it up. Blood spattered onto the ground. I tugged and did my best to stop him, but the barrel of a gun against my temple dug in. My hand pressed onto the scanner and it lit up green. "Warning: power level is too low to start operation without removing power supply from capsule thirty-seven. Voice activation key required to begin manually."

    I shot a look at Byrne and opened my mouth to tell the computer to shut it down. Officer Bird clapped his hand over my face and looked at Byrne. "I hope this works, Officer Byrne." I bit into his hand harshly and made him yelp but he didn't let go.

    What are they doing? She can't do anything without my voice key—Then I saw Officer Peterson tap on his tablet and lift it up. My own warbled voice came out. "Confirm Operation Dawn initiation."

    I snarled once I realized he had been recording my voice and using a modulator on it. The computer chimed. "Affirmative." Byrne followed the steps and Captain Thorn's capsule lit up and liquid seeped into the lines. I started to thrash and shout. No one heard me as electricity surged into the capsule and Captain Thorn thrashed from within. My eyes darted down the chamber as I saw the farthest pod at the end of the line go dark.

  The Captain's capsule hissed open.