"John, please don't. It's not worth it." Tanya said, pulling on his arm.

  "I just want to talk with him." He replied, trying to disengage himself from her grip.

  "Don't feed me that bullshit, John. Yer going to hurt him." She replied, digging her heels in.

  "Maybe. It would be one thing if it were just his money, but it isn't. He bet your lives on a race. No matter how much of a 'sure thing' he thought it was, it was reckless and irresponsible."

  "He is just ill, John. He needs our help!"

  "Yes, he is ill, but that doesn't absolve him of the responsibility of his actions." He replied. He sighed and stopped trying to pull away from her. "Tanya, what do you want to do then? What do you need me to do? Because I cannot just stand by and let him ruin you and Chris."

  "First, I need to find out the full extent of his wager and with whom it is. After that, I am not sure. I will probably need to take him back home. Our family will deal with him then." She said

  "And what happens with you then? I..." He replied, but trailed off. She had her own problems she had to deal with right now. He didn't think it was the right time to ask her to join his crew again.

  "It will be okay, John. Listen, I will contact you tomorrow. Head back to your ship and try to rest. You are too angry to help me deal with him right now."

  "Fine. Just... be careful, okay?"

  "I will." She said, then hugged him. "John, I am happy you care enough about me that you are worried about me, but I will be okay."

  He returned the hug, then picked her up and brought her in for a kiss. They shared a tender moment, John expressing his feelings through his actions rather than his words. After a short time, he broke it off and looked into her eyes. "Just let me know what you need, and I will make it happen. Just remember, you and Chris are not alone."

  "Thank you, John. I will." She replied.

  She departed the docks a few moments ter, leaving John and Niki alone.

  "Captain? Are you okay?" Niki asked, worried at the look on his face.

  "No, Niki. Not in the slightest. However, there isn't anything to do about it right now, so let's get on board." He said, turning back to the ship.

  He was livid right now, but didn't want to show more of his anger in front of Niki. Not if he could help it.

  "Yes, Captain."

  *Whap, Whap, Whap*

  It was early in the morning, and John was in the ship's gym, beating on the heavy bag. Sleep had eluded him the night before, so he snuck out of bed after Niki fell asleep to try and work off his agitation.

  *Whap, Whap, Whap*

  I am having a hard time believing that he would do something like this to his sisters.

  *Whap, Whap, Whap*

  The real question is how he managed to bet stuff he didn't own? Can people do that here in this world?

  *Whap, Whap, Whap, THUNK, THUNK*

  After another series of punches, he added a few kicks to end his combo, and then he stopped. Exercise wasn't really helping take his mind off the issue. He quickly wiped himself down with a towel, then started to roam the ship. He made his way back to the armoury and began to go through the weapons again.

  I can only fit a few pistols and maybe two boxes of ammo in that bag. Maybe four boxes of ammo if I just arm myself. Do I want to let others use these weapons back in High School of the Dead? Or other worlds? Damn it, I have no idea what I should do... Fuck am I considering bailing on this world just because things are starting to get difficult? There must be something I can do to help them.

  He ended up just grabbing ammo for himself, not wanting to let others get their hands on these weapons when he entered other worlds.

  As he left the armoury, he paused, recalling something from his initial walkthrough of the ship. He set the ammo boxes down and went into the vehicle bay, a pn forming in his head.

  These just might be the answer.

  The Following Afternoon

  "I don't see why you are dragging me here. Even if my ship hadn’t been written off, the cost of the damage to the station would put me so far into debt that I would have to ask my brother to bail me out. That is, even if the courts let me off without becoming an IDS to pay off the debt." Serena said, walking with Ash, Tanya, and Chris along the docks.

  "Just wait and see. A friend of ours, the man who healed yer injuries by the way, has something for ya to try out. It just might be the answer to the problem that we have found ourselves in." Tanya said, a smile forming on her face. When John called her st night, she couldn't believe it at first, but after he sent a few pictures, she immediately went and woke Chris up to share the news. Greg still hadn't returned to the shop, which was probably for the best at the time, but now that they had a chance to not lose everything, she needed to find him.

  Though she wasn't sure if she was going to thrash him within an inch of his life or not.

  "Fine. You have piqued my curiosity. I just hope this isn't a colossal waste of my time." The dark elf replied.

  "Pull that stick out of your ass, Serena. We may have just met him, but John is pretty special. If he says he has a pn, then you should at least listen to it before you call it a waste of time." Ash said, punching Serena lightly in the shoulder.

  "Bah! I'm here, ain't I? I just wish you would tell me what it is instead of leaving me in suspense. Where are we going anyway?"

  "Right there," Chris said, pointing down the jetty they arrived at. "That is his ship, the Phoenix Hawk. Come, he is waiting on us."

  "Whoa! That is a big ship. Are you sure this guy isn't with the military?"

  "Well, he is under contract with the INP, but he is a merc like Ash and me. C'mon, let's get on board." Tanya said, leading them to the Phoenix Hawk.

  They made their way to the ship, and after Tanya sent John a message, the door opened to allow them to board. They made their way back to the hangar where John was waiting for them.

  When Serena stepped into the room, she stopped, in awe of the sight before her. Three different models of high-end racing pods were lined up on the hangar floor below her, looking like they were fresh off a showroom floor. A man was standing on top of one, disconnecting the pod from the ceiling-mounted crane. He looked up and waved at them. "Good Afternoon, everyone. Come on down and take a look, your chariots awaits."

  Serena could only shake her head.

  Several Hours Later

  John had unched the Phoenix Hawk and took it out to the asteroid belt, where he arrived in this world. Serena was testing out all three pods, deciding on which one she preferred for her style of flying. Chris was assisting her, adjusting the mechanical aspects of the pods and pnning out possible upgrades they could install with the limited time they had before the race.

  Tanya was flying around in her fighter, taking pot shots at her with a low-powered EMP cannon to simute that aspect of the race. That left Ash, Niki and him in the cockpit, finally able to talk about what happened the other day.

  "Ash, why would you put those ideas into her head? Have I ever given you any indication that needed to be 'Taken care of' like that?" He asked her, looking up from the monitors.

  "Obviously not. Other than a few accidents, you have been nothing but a gentleman. At least, when you were not acting like a Captain." She replied to him, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

  "So why would you get Niki to throw herself at me then? You know she was in an extremely stressful situation for a long time. Maniputing her like that while she is vulnerable isn't cool."

  "Because..." She started, but looked at Niki quickly, then shut her mouth for a moment. "I have my reasons. With the information I had, I believe my actions were for the best."

  John assumed she didn't want to say what she was really thinking in front of Niki for some reason. They were going to be stuck out here for a while, so he figured he could humour her.

  "Niki, can you please head down to the hangar and shadow Chris for a bit. It will be a good experience for you to see what the inside of a spaceship looks like while Ash and I talk." He said, not taking his eyes off the Elf.

  "Yes, Captain." She said, reluctantly leaving the cockpit.

  John stood up then and rounded on Ash. "Now, expin yourself."

  "Because she is terrified you will abandon her like everyone else she has tried to trust in her life. She is a broken shell of a woman whom everyone has abandoned over the st three years. Everyone but you. I put the idea forward that she should get close to you quickly, to become indispensable to you, so that you will never let go of her." She said, standing up to him. "Have you even talked to her about her past experiences yet? How after her parents died, one family member after another stopped associating with her?

  How her family friends slowly abandond her to her fate? How the students and teachers at the school distanced themselves from her? It was like her life had become cursed. She told you she was about to join a brothel to get food and a safe pce to sleep. That was a btant lie. She was about to end her life because no one wanted her other than Timur, who only wanted to torture her for what her parents did to his brother.

  Then you came along, John. You fed her, healed her, and treated her with respect. Then you saved her life and bought out her debt. You have now provided her with food, shelter and a chance at having a decent life. She became immediately infatuated with you, and in her current mental state, I was worried even a slight rejection on your part would send her back into a negative spiral. Honestly, I am surprised you didn't accept her advances. She is a beautiful young woman after all."

  John took a deep breath, then another. His anger at Ash began to waver. He did not agree with her reasoning, at least in the fact that she didn't tell him about her pn prior to Niki showing up in his room in lingerie. There was this weird, twisted logic to her words, though, enough so that he didn't immediately have an answer to her argument.

  I don't know enough about mental health to be able to argue about her logic, other than it sounds wrong.

  "She needs a therapist, Ash, not to tie herself to me like that." He said, resisting the urge to wrap his hand around her neck. "You're lucky I have a lot of self-control, else I might take some of these Captain's privileges out on your ass right now."

  Maybe just a little squeeze.

  She didn't budge. "Maybe you should. You never know, I might be into it." She said with a small smirk on her face.

  Is she flirting? Wait, am I flirting?

  "You're going to be trouble, aren't you?" He replied, leaning in closer to her, his cock hardening for some reason.

  "Yep. What are you going to do about it?" She replied, pcing a hand on his chest.

  "Don't test me, Ash. You might not like the results."

  "Do it, coward."

  And he did.