Chapter 106

ALL HANDS ON DECK

“Come in.”

Alexander entered the ready room. The space was compact but functional, everything designed for efficiency rather than comfort. Carmen stood behind her desk, reviewing something on a tablet. She looked up as he entered and gestured to the chair across from her.

“Have a seat.”

Alexander settled into the chair. Carmen set the tablet down.

“Would you like something to drink?”

“No, thank you.”

She nodded and took her own seat, the small ritual complete. They were captain and employer now, each showing respect for the other’s position.

“I assume this is about the stowaway,” Carmen said. “Is it a problem?”

Alexander nodded slowly. “The intruder turned out to be my cousin.”

Carmen raised an eyebrow. “Your cousin?”

“Yes. A cousin I didn’t know I had, to be clear.” He paused. “And a member of another supervillain group.”

“This keeps getting better and better,” Carmen said, her tone perfectly deadpan.

Alexander smiled despite himself. “You’re telling me. He won’t be an issue. Augustus vouched for him. But he brought news, and that’s what I need to discuss with you.”

She made a go-ahead gesture.

Alexander took a moment to organize his thoughts. “Grimnir is being forced to act as defenders for the upcoming multiversal invasion. I assume you know what I’m talking about?”

Carmen nodded.

“Our guest, Spencer, has the ability to see the future. Sort of.” Alexander caught her expression and added, “Not in a way that sounds very useful, if I’m being honest. You’d think if a cousin was going to magically materialize with future-sight powers he’d at least be useful. Still, he came to warn us that some of Grimnir are going to die during the quest. He thinks.”

Carmen’s face shifted from amused at his evaluation of Spencer’s power to very serious.

“We’ve discussed our options. The best plan would be for us to return to Astra Omnia and hire some help for—”

Carmen was already shaking her head.

“We can’t.” She grabbed her tablet from the desk and glanced at one of the command screens mounted on the wall beside her. A swipe sent data from the tablet to the larger display.

Alexander studied the screen for a moment, not quite sure what he was seeing. Then the pieces clicked together.

It was a two-dimensional representation of three-dimensional space. The GSS Sleipnir appeared as a blue marker near Earth’s orbital path. Earth itself sat farther along its trajectory. Mars hung in its own orbit. The Sun anchored the center. Concentric rings around each body marked gravitational boundaries. Yellow indicators scattered throughout the display showed other ships in the system, civilian and military traffic going about their business.

Two red markers stood out. One had launched from Prime Orbital. The other from Mars. Both showed projected trajectory lines that converged on the Sleipnir’s path.

“Within hours of us—” Carmen glanced at him with the hint of a smile. “—borrowing this ship, these two launched. It wasn’t obvious they were on intercept courses until the navigator ran another calculation of their trajectories relative to ours.”

Alexander frowned. “Is that a problem?”

“No. They won’t catch us before we reach the jump limit. They’re also working off bad intel. They think we’re headed for the gateway network because of the flight plan we filed at Prime Orbital.”

She tapped the screen, highlighting their current course. “However, I refiled our flight plan at Astra Omnia. Like a good, law-abiding captain does when we have a sudden, very unexpected change. We’ll be adjusting course soon and be ready to jump in about six hours. From there, we’ll make a series of jumps and rejoin the gateway network at Ross 154. Should arrive at the Nexus six days from the first jump.”

She paused, and a flicker of excitement crossed her features. “Most commercial ships would take four times that.”

Alexander smiled at the crack in her professional facade, the brief enthusiasm over the ship’s capabilities. Carmen caught his expression and cleared her throat, pulling her features back into careful neutrality.

He refocused. “Okay. Even with them following us, the ship is legally registered. What can they do if we were to turn back to Astra Omnia?”

“They know the transponder is legitimate by now. Otherwise we’d be getting hailed by Space Force ships instead of being followed by Santiago Systems frigates. But if they can get close enough for a clean visual, they can prove the ship isn’t what the registration claims.” The corner of her mouth twitched. “Assuming you didn’t have time to repaint or remodel it since you acquired it.”

Alexander shook his head. “I see. That complicates things.”

“Our arrangement will work best if we’re straight with each other,” Carmen said after the silence had stretched too long.

Alexander considered, then nodded. “Our second option is one I’m not comfortable with. We’d ask for help from the aliens we rescued and some of your crew. Arm volunteers with weapons from our collection and the ship’s armory. The gear would be enchanted by Augustus and Talia, so it would work better than mundane equipment. Then invite them to join Grimnir temporarily for the invasion defense.”

Carmen leaned back, interlacing her fingers as she studied him for a long moment. “I don’t understand the specifics, but if people can simply join Grimnir and assist, couldn’t you leave Grimnir instead?”

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Alexander’s expression softened. “Annie had that idea. Probably one of the best she’s come up with. But when we tested it, only Spencer and Felix could leave and rejoin. The rest of us couldn’t. She was very disappointed that her one great idea didn’t work.”

“I see.” Carmen closed her eyes and fell silent.

Alexander knew she understood what he was suggesting. What it would mean for them if they accepted.

A full minute passed before she opened her eyes again. “We knew the world was changing. None of us wanted to risk the serum. Too much to live for, too much to lose on a random chance. Or we couldn’t afford it. But with this System...”

She gestured vaguely. “It feels inevitable now. I made sure everyone knew we’d be in close proximity with superhumans for weeks, maybe months. Some were excited about it. The rest just accepted it as the cost of getting out of whatever holes we were in.”

She paused. “Like me.”

Alexander waited.

“But this is something more,” Carmen said. “You’re asking us to risk our lives on something supernatural we don’t understand. And you’re saying you believe you’re going to die trying?”

Alexander nodded. “I don’t know if I believe it. But Augustus trusts Spencer’s power, and I’ve seen too much since… this past year to ignore the warning.”

Carmen’s gaze drifted to the wall beside her desk. Alexander noticed the photos there for the first time, personal mementos already hung despite their short time aboard. He didn’t pry.

“Everything’s going to change once everybody starts becoming superhuman,” Carmen said quietly.

“Not everyone will have powers,” Alexander said. “Some people become Dreamers without them. We’ve seen it.”

A tight smile crossed Carmen’s face. “That’s the problem. If everyone’s being forced into this, who wants to be the one left powerless?” She looked at him. “Superhumans were all over the news, in movies, ads, everything. But they were still rare. One in what, a few hundred thousand?”

Alexander shrugged. “I don’t know. Talia would.”

“You said you invited them to Grimnir for the invasion,” Carmen said. “What about afterwards?”

“Felix plans to stay with us. Spencer is a member of The Royals. He’s only joining temporarily. He said it added an alliance section to his status sheet.” Alexander paused. “Just another way things are changing and we have no idea how.”

Carmen ignored the last part. She met his eyes with a piercing gaze. “And the rest of us? If we helped, if we were willing to take on the extra risk for you and yours, what happens to us after?”

Alexander blinked, caught off guard. He’d been so focused on the immediate crisis he hadn’t considered what came next. He took a moment to process what she was really asking.

“Are you saying you and the crew would want to be part of Grimnir permanently? Even though we’re supervillains?”

Carmen’s voice rose slightly. “And what if we did? What if we wanted to know our jobs were secure? Not just for a joyride or returning some aliens home. That when everything goes to shit, we won’t be completely powerless for once. That we can afford food and shelter. That if our friends and families are threatened by all these superpowers and invasions and whatever else is coming, we’d actually have someone on our side? Someone to look out for them? That we’d matter to someone with actual power, instead of just being collateral damage in someone else’s fight? Or maybe, just maybe, we’d have some power of our own to do something.”

Her face was flushed when she finished.

Carmen took a few deep breaths, the color in her cheeks slowly fading. “I apologize. That was unprofessional.”

Alexander shook his head. “Don’t.”

He was quiet for a moment, thinking. Then he sighed. “It’s easy to lose perspective when you have powers. I’ve been telling myself I could see how things were going to change, how they were going to affect people. That I would not develop a god complex like some of the crazy people we’ve fought. But I guess even I have started to lose sight of some things…”

They both sat there for a while, oddly comfortable with the silence.

“I will have to ask the others,” Alexander said suddenly. “But I’m certain they will agree. Any crew members who are willing to fight alongside us for this invasion can consider themselves members of Grimnir for as long as they want to continue supporting us.”

The tightness around Carmen’s eyes eased. “Then I’ll take the offer to the crew and let you know who volunteers.”

Alexander nodded. Then he grinned. “Of course, you should probably inform them that Annie will probably start calling them henchmen if they accept.”

Carmen smiled. “That might be a deal-breaker for some of them.”

He laughed.

***

Two days had passed faster than Alexander expected.

The aliens had volunteered. All of them. Annie had been ecstatic, bouncing through the ship as she helped each one prepare. Felix had apparently made a compelling case to the more hesitant ones, though Alexander suspected the golden retriever’s calm demeanor had done more than any speech could.

The crew’s response had been even more surprising. Carmen had approached him only hours after their conversation, her expression carefully neutral as she delivered the news. Every single crew member had accepted. Davis, who’d been itching for a fight since they’d boarded. Yuki, the pilot. James, the navigator. Ryan, the XO. The chef. Even the chief engineer, who’d grumbled about enchanted weapons not being real science.

Talia and Augustus had spent the past forty-eight hours enchanting plates, with Alexander welding them onto everything they could. Rifles, sidearms, close-combat weapons from the ship’s small armory, armor. They had even managed to enhance some of the crew’s personal equipment. The workshop had hummed with energy as the three of them worked together to complete everything before the deadline.

Spencer had made himself useful coordinating the preparations, his path-sense apparently guiding him toward minor improvements in equipment distribution. He’d also drawn on his old military training, teaching basic formations, command signals, and weapon handling to those who needed it. Annie had helped where she could, translating his instructions for the aliens, and demonstrating alongside Spencer.

He’d been oddly quiet about whether the paths had changed, deflecting whenever anyone asked directly.

Now Alexander stood on the bridge, the countdown timer floating in his vision.

Forty-five seconds.

They’d decided it made the most sense to gather on the bridge instead of being split up when they were pulled into whatever spatial arena the System had prepared for them.

The bridge crew worked at their stations. Carmen stood near the captain’s chair, arms crossed, watching the main viewscreen. The rest of Grimnir had taken positions around the bridge’s perimeter. Annie fidgeted near the weapons console, her hands shifting between flesh and metal. Talia remained perfectly still by the tactical display. Augustus leaned against the wall near the communications station, wand already in hand. Felix sat beside him, alert.

Spencer stood near Alexander, face unreadable.

Everyone was armed. Armored. To Alexander’s secret amusement, they looked more like a ragtag bunch of space pirates than supervillains and their support staff, though Annie had already taken to calling them henchmen.

Fifteen seconds.

“Everyone ready?” Carmen asked, her voice carrying across the bridge.

Acknowledgments came from each station.

Seven.

Alexander reached out with his senses, feeling the bioelectrical signatures of everyone aboard. Twenty-five people, counting himself. Crew, aliens, Grimnir. All of them about to face something none of them were fully prepared for.

Three. Two. One.

A strange sensation washed over Alexander’s senses. Muted. Distant. Nothing like the overwhelming suppression he’d expected.

The timer hit zero.

Then shouts erupted across the bridge.

Alexander dismissed the quest notification and looked up.

A planet filled the main viewscreen. Much closer than any celestial body should be without showing up on sensors. Far too close given the speed the ship was moving at.

And they were heading straight for it.