Chương 6: Consequences

The Magpie's command deck was silent, save for the whispering hiss of the air system. The coppery tang of blood hung in the air, tugging at Felix's nose, demanding he look back at the now-deceased former captain. He didn't want to; his hands still tingled from the ship's controls, the black aura around Heigel's body etched into his awareness even now and there was nothing he could do that Doc couldn't.

In fact, Felix realized, Doc was just outside the door, having been summoned by one of the Taggarts, outlined by a yellow-green glow in his mind. Felix glanced at the System messages in the corner of his vision again. [PASSIVE ABILITY (CAPTAIN, CIVILIAN): CREW AWARENESS (1)] The cool blue lettering made him shiver and close his eyes, but the crew did not disappear. Doc gasped and froze as the door revealed the mess slowly oozing down the captain's chair and across the floor.

He set his bag down and placed two fingers against Heigel's throat, then shook his head.

"I warned him." He looked over at Gavin.

"Did he just let go at the end, then?" Gavin shook his head.

"No. It was after the first turn."

"Well, who was fly—" Doc's jaw snapped shut, and Felix could feel the man's gaze burning into the back of his head.

"I thought you didn't have any skills?" Felix opened his eyes but kept staring straight ahead. The controls near his hands called, and he balled his fists to resist.

"I remembered how," Felix whispered, just loud enough to be heard. Another memory bubbled out of the depths of his mind, feelings of satisfaction and joy as he watched Ana fly the little plane around an airport on her first solo flight. He squeezed his eyes shut again. More memories of flying kept coming, and he rode them, only distantly aware of the crew watching him.

"He accepted captaincy," Misty said, looking between Felix, Doc and Heigel's slumped body.

"Check your status." Someone—Gavin, from what Felix's sense was reporting—sucked in a sharp breath.

"I think we need to have a crew meeting," he said.

"After we take care of the… former captain." Felix sat at the head of the mess table, hands curled in his lap. The memory flood had slowed to a trickle, though he still felt the vibration of his old fighter's twin turbines in his seat. It was only slightly less uncomfortable than the five members of the Magpie's crew staring at him, from their own seats around the table.

Kyra had arrived forward with Bates not long after Doc, and the larger man was swift about helping Doc inter Heigel's body in cold storage before the pair of men had set about cleaning the mess in the command deck. The two had set about the grim task in silence, matched by the Taggarts. Felix had wanted to lend a hand, but a shake of Gavin's head urged him to reconsider. It didn't change the misplaced feeling of responsibility gnawing at Felix's stomach.

Kyra, meanwhile, had just stood in the hatch, eyes narrowed, watching Felix. There was an intensity to her gaze that bored into him and she hadn't let up even as the crew had adjourned to the mess. The sour scent of disinfectant was less noticeable this far from the command deck. She was the very first to break the uncomfortable silence.

"So, he's our captain now." Kyra, though staring at Felix from the far end of the table, refused to speak to him directly.

"Is there a reason the rest of us didn't get the option?" Misty and Gavin glanced between one another, shifting in their seats as if they were seated on sharp rocks rather than worn cushions. Gavin nodded, and Misty turned to the engineer.

"We did," she said.

"Since we were also on the command deck, we could have accepted. We…declined." Kyra's glare turned venomous as she locked onto Misty.

"Why? Why would you throw that on a new Jumper?" Gavin spoke up.

"We needed a captain to get the ship home, and it's so far off spec for us…we're both support, there's no synergy." He grimaced.

"The ca—er, Heigel stormed in going on about the new jumper not having anything. At least now Felix at least has a class, so some sort of path."

"If I might add," Doc said, clearing his throat.

"That flying was not a first level captain or pilot. And I saw the notification, too. Those were level seven pirates, we didn't stand a chance, even with Heigel." He looked over at Felix.

"What else did it give you?"

"Combat Pilot, eighteen." The concept felt foreign, almost like a joke, but everyone talking about levels made it seem normal. Misty covered her mouth, gasping, eyes wide. Gavin and Doc both leaned back, and Kyra's basilisk stare lost some of its edge. Bates slammed his fist on the table, standing abruptly from his seat beside Doc.

"Now that's just space shit! There ain't been anyone that high, ever! It's millions just to get to ten in anything!" He pointed a finger at Felix.

"I'll bet you're in with those pirates!" Doc stood and set his hand on Bates' shoulder.

"I helped pull him out, he still hadn't been fully integrated." Bates scrunched up his expression and sat, Doc returning to his own seat before continuing.

"You said something about remembering?" Felix nodded.

"After you asked me to try," he said, waving one hand toward Gavin.

"It's like this…System unlocked part of me. I was a pilot where I came from." Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

"You should have been averaged," Kyra said, finally breaking her silence.

"Jumpers get averaged." She was almost shaking, staring at Felix.

"I could be one of the best engineers in my field but if I jump here, that's just going to score me a couple extra points and I still get averaged. Why would it let you keep everything?" What did I do to her? Felix wondered, watching the raw fury in her eyes. It was almost as if he'd personally offended her. Doc held up a hand.

"But he didn't. It's got to be something with that glitch and his memory. Did it unlock everything?"

"No, just flying," he said, shaking his head.

"I only remember flying, or people that are directly related to flying."

"So, whatever you remember is based on what skills you need at any given moment," Gavin said, stroking the rough stubble on his chin. He stared thoughtfully at Felix.

"I still don't like this," Bates growled.

"I've heard stories about people like that, with impossible levels. They go make a big splash, brag about it, and then," he clicked his tongue, making a popping sound.

"They're gone. Disappear. Never heard from again. That isn't gonna help us any." Misty nodded.

"And if he disappears, I don't know how we'll find another captain or pilot."

"Game over," Bates said, looking at his sister.

"What do you mean, disappear?" Felix shifted, his own seat now feeling like a rock. Doc made a dismissive sound.

"Just bar tales. We get back to York, I'll call a couple friends and see what they know about glitched Jumpers."

"Back to York?" Now it was Kyra's turn to stand.

"What, are we just accepting this? That he's going to be captain now? This is just happening?"

"You want the job?" Felix asked. He was tired, his head still ached, and the aura surrounding everyone only made him feel worse.

"I only said yes because it seemed like the only option." Kyra's glare finally slipped down to the table, her head sinking as she looked away and sunk back into her seat.

"No, I don't." Felix looked around the table.

"Anyone else," he asked, looking at each person. One by one, they shook their heads. He let out a sigh. They all seemed scared of the role, but Felix remembered at least some of his life as an officer now. He'd do the role, at least for the moment.

"Alright, Doc, you said something about going to a place called York?" The man nodded.

"Yes, there's a station and a spaceport. We actually want the latter. Mostly to see to the capt—Heigel's body." He, too, looked uncomfortable, like he'd just tasted something sour.

"There's plenty of other things we need to do when we get there, too."

"Like selling salvage and looking for better work," Bates said, lifting a cup toward Felix before taking a drink.

"Maybe if you don't disappear on us, we can finally do something interesting." Felix looked down at his hands.

"I suppose you need me to fly us there?"

"No," Gavin said, shaking his head.

"I can set us up on a cruise lane. It's mostly handled by the autopilot anyway. Anything more complicated, though, that's going to have to be you." Taking one more look around the table, Felix stood.

"I didn't want this, you know. When we get to York, maybe we can find you a real captain." No one met his eyes before he left the mess. On the tour, Kyra had pointed out which room would be his, but Felix couldn't bring himself to go in. Something felt wrong, uncomfortable, almost like he was trespassing. In fact, this whole situation was almost more than he could process, so as he left the crew mess, he turned away from the command deck, heading to the only place which felt familiar.

Walking into the Magpie's cargo bay, he noted the dim bank of lights in the ceiling, near where the pirate had slammed into the ship. The ache in his back returned as he examined the interior plating and conduits, making note of where fixtures had broken loose from the impact. A pile of salvaged metal had broken free during the attack; chunks of iridescent metal scattered across the deck.

Pathfinder, as he now understood the capsule to be named, still rested roughly on its side where it had been set in the bay, strapped securely to the deck and unmoved despite the maneuvering that had broken the salvage pile. It was shaped like a tapered cup, the windshield and raised shutters on the side, facing toward the narrow end, which itself appeared to be a covered dome. The wider end featured a pair of rocket motors and four oval bulges spaced equidistant around the back section.

A seam partway revealed the back third could detach, and the entire forward two thirds were covered in white tiles. A blue globe matching the one on his jumpsuit decorated the nose of the craft. The side hatch Kyra and Doc had pulled him through still sat open, welcoming him back. Felix climbed into the capsule, which had gone dark again. It appeared someone, likely Kyra, had shut it down once he'd been secured with Doc, which made sense.

Leaving it running would have generated heat in the bay and made the capsule a hazard to the ship hosting it; better to shut it down and secure it as cargo. It wasn't like the capsule could go anywhere, anyway. He slipped off the borrowed boots and picked his way to the back of the capsule, across the padding and to where he'd left the bag with his personal items. He settled to the floor, leaning against the back of the capsule, legs crossed and closed his eyes.

This time, he imagined the crew auras dimming, fading away and the System seemed to obey. As the Magpie's occupants retreated to the edges of his perception, tension began to drain from his shoulders and he slumped, hunched forward. Felix sat for a time as the larger vessel around the capsule shuddered, engines restarted as Gavin had engaged the autopilot. He allowed the hum of the larger ship to lull him to rest, his breathing slowing. It was all too much, too quickly: the memory loss, the nanites, the System.

Heigel. Flying the Magpie. Being captain. It wasn't as if he'd never seen a death before—the restored memories had made it clear he had delivered a handful himself—but it happening right behind him, in all the rawness of human fragility, was something new. Something he'd never experienced, and he suspected the image of a man crumpled in the chair, life draining from his body across the deck, would hang with him for a long time. Then there was assuming the mantle of captain.

That clawed at him, and he knew in the heat of the moment he had agreed to something bigger than he could imagine. The looks between the Magpie's crewmates said enough; none of them wanted the job, and for better or for worse, he'd offered himself as the sacrificial lamb. Finally, the Magpie herself. The sheer euphoria of being the ship, of his will fully exerted over the machine… flow state was natural to a pilot, but this was on another level.

It wasn't just flow, but it was just as the alien words which hovered in his sight after the battle had declared: the ship had become a second skin, and he'd felt the tug of the ship at him, begging to be cut loose to do what it was made for. The thought of getting lost in that feeling worried him. Felix's mind drifted and an hour—two? Three? —passed and the engines changed pitch, waking him again. His mind was clearer and he found it easier to ignore the crew status auras.

Kyra and Bates had approached the capsule while he slept, but neither had chosen to disturb him; he wasn't sure if it was the ship or the crew status which reported them. Either way, they had kept a respectful distance, allowing him space to process. Finally able to open his eyes again, he pulled his personal bag into his lap and drew the photo out. The woman smiled at him again, Ana's eyes twinkling, and this time he remembered that smile in the airplane.

As she grew older, from a young girl grinning from the controls in the right seat, to the woman flying in the left— His breath hitched and he let out a strangled cry. His daughter. Ana was his daughter.