After a quick greeting and an airborne hug from Tanya, John and the twins made their way down to the simution rooms in the guild. He stuck his head into the room Niki was in, but she was engrossed in a scenario that appeared to be monitoring radars and communication while the ship was coming in and out of a port. He left her alone and brought the women to an empty briefing room nearby. It was a pin room, with only a rge table and a dozen chairs around it.

  "Well, we are here, John. What did you want to talk with us about?" Chris said, taking a seat at the table.

  "Yeah, Chris cut short my beauty sleep to come here, so it better be good," Tanya added, the smile on her face letting John know she was just teasing him.

  John ughed, then paused a moment to gather his thoughts. "Tanya, Chris, I won't beat around the bush. I want to offer you both full-time positions on my crew."

  "I accept!" Tanya said immediately.

  "That was fast. You didn't even want to hear the offer?" John replied.

  "Well, with the situation with Greg, our only recourse would be to return home. Our father wouldn't allow us to be out here without the extra protection. I am not ready for that, so joining you makes the most sense to me." She said, putting her hand on his. "Besides, I thought we were starting to get closer to each other? That would be kind of hard to continue doing if I had to return to the cn."

  "That is true. Well, that makes me happy." John said. "Though I am curious. Are you not an adult? Why would your father have any input on you remaining out here without your brother?"

  Tanya started to ugh loudly. "Yes, I am an adult. I am sixty-four years old. In our culture, we have both been adults since we turned fifty. The reason we would have to return home is... well..." She faltered, then looked at her sister.

  "It is up to ya. He was bound to find out eventually." Chris replied to her. She had been quiet since he made the offer, sitting there appraising him.

  "Right. So John, we are not commoners; we are part of the nobility. Our father is a dwarven cn leader and ruler of our people. He is in charge of several dozen worlds along the Northern border of the empire." She said without any preamble. He liked that about her; she was always straightforward. "If I return, I will be expected to begin duties within the cn. We had left home to gain experiences in the outside world, and I am not ready to end that journey. Not yet."

  "I see." He said. He figured she was someone important. "So does that make you simir to Katrina?"

  "Yeah, it is simir. Her father is an Earl, so outranks ours, but we were both bred to assist in the rulers of our peoples. Our father technically holds the position of a Count in the empire, but he just goes by Boss or Cn Leader to our people."

  "Oh, so should I be calling you my dy and groveling at your feet?" He asked, teasing her.

  "Naw, save that fer Ash. Dwarves don't bend the knee for anyone."

  "No? You got on your knees for me."

  "That... That is different! Jerk!" She said and spped him on the shoulder. He chuckled, then rubbed his right shoulder.

  Hey... that didn't hurt? I am getting stronger!

  "So if you two are done flirting, I want to discuss a few things about your proposal," Chris said, her face a mask right now.

  "Yeah, we are done." He replied, wondering what she was thinking. He activated his scouter skill. He felt a little bad doing this, but when Tim said to keep his friends close, he wasn't going to let the ethics of spying on their thoughts get in the way of saving them.

  'Do I really want to be a third wheel in my sister's retionship? I like him a lot, but I don't know if Father would let us both chase after the same man. Not to mention, he is still hiding something. Damn it, Greg. Why did you have to gamble again and throw a wrench into our life.'

  Not what I was expecting, but I should be able to work with that. Does she suspect I am not from this world? No, that would be a stretch for most people.

  "I had a talk with Jahred and came up with what I have been told is a reasonable offer, but what did you want to discuss?"

  Chris stared at him, drumming her fingers on the table. "What I want to know is who you really are, John. And don't give me that bullshit about your memory loss. We both know you are hiding something, and I don't want to tie myself to a bad actor."

  "Chris! We talked about this! I thought we agreed to let him keep his secrets until he was ready to tell us." Tanya said, rounding on her sister.

  "Yes. We did, but that was before we were considering joining his crew. Do you really want to be under the power of this man we know nothing about? Stop thinking with yer cunt and use yer head, Tanya." Chris said, ying into her sister.

  "I don't care, Chris. I trust he has his reasons, and I am willing to join him despite not knowing."

  "Well, I'm not!" Chris said, then turned back to him. "John, are you willing to tell us the truth? Be warned, we will know if you are lying."

  John looked at the pair of them. He wasn't sure how they figured him out, but they obviously knew something. Oddly enough, Chris's skepticism and near hostility were almost refreshing. For once, a woman wasn't falling all over him without question. The timing kind of sucked, though.

  "Fine, I suppose you deserve the truth, though I'll ask that you both to keep this secret from anyone outside of this room, at least for now." He said, then took a breath. "I am not from this universe, but was sent here by a god. I died and was reincarnated here. She has asked me to get stronger and gain influence in this world so I can defeat a rot that has taken root somewhere. There is more to it, but that is the gist of it."

  They both watched him intently as he talked, the pair of them nodding along to his words.

  "So that ship and your equipment? That was given to you by this god?" Chris asked him.

  "Yes." He said simply. He didn't want to say their world was based on a game. He never pyed that game and wasn't sure he had all the information anyway.

  "That would expin why nothing onboard your ship has manufacturer stamps I recognize," Chris said, nodding to herself. "I can tell you believe what you are saying, Captain, but that you are leaving out something as well. Something bigger than even that tall tale."

  He sighed. He didn't want to mention DEN, but apparently, the dwarves were too perceptive. "You want the full truth then?"

  "If you want us to join you, then yes. We deserve to know." She said, not budging.

  "Fine, but I want to get Ash, Niki, and Katrina together for this. You all should hear the truth, and I don't want to expin it multiple times." John said, resigning himself to telling them all of the truth. Alec would probably give him shit for it, but that didn't matter right now.

  That Evening - Katrina POVKatrina made her way down the docks to where the Phoenix Hawk was berthed. She was surprised when John told her to wear her flight suit since he was taking her off the station. She was expecting to head out to a restaurant or dance club for their date, not head into space.

  Maybe he has something interesting pnned for us? He didn't say what it was about.

  When she arrived, she was surprised to find that IDS of John's was waiting for her. "Please, follow me, my Lady. The Captain is waiting for us in the cockpit."

  "Do you know what he has pnned? I thought we were supposed to be heading out for a date." She asked, following the Neko.

  "No. When I finished training at the guild earlier, he collected me along with Tanya and Chris and brought us back to the ship. He didn't say what was going on, but the sisters were in a tense mood."

  "I see," Katrina replied.

  Did they figure out his secret? This might be interesting in a different way than a date.

  When they arrived at the cockpit, John was seated in his command chair, already beginning to pilot the vessel away from the station. Tanya and Chris were sitting down at consoles at the rear of the cockpit, absently monitoring the ship's systems but otherwise being quiet. Ash was there as well, standing in the corner.

  "Good Evening, Kat. I trust you made it here without issue?" John said, not turning around. He was moving his ship between several rge merchant vessels, so she didn't think that was all that rude.

  "It was fine, though rather unexpected. I thought we were going out on a date. Do you want to tell me what this is about now?" She asked, slightly irritated by the presence of the other women.

  "Shortly. We have somewhere to go first." He said. He moved the ship out of the docking nes and into open space, then activated its light drive.

  Katrina stepped up beside Chris and asked her what she knew, but the dwarf woman said to wait, and John would expin everything.

  They stayed in silence for another ten minutes, the tension in the room almost thick enough to cut with a knife. Finally, the Phoenix Hawk dropped out of warp next to a few asteroids. Katrina looked over at the radar screen in front of Tanya, wondering why this area was familiar to her.

  John stood up and turned to them all. "Thank you all for agreeing to join me today. I have something I want to confess to you all." He said, then turned back to the windows in front of the ship. "I don't actually have memory loss. I arrived in this system right here, a couple of weeks ago. That was the day I met you, Katrina, when you escorted me to the station. Before that, I was not in this universe at all, but somewhere else in the omniverse. I have been traveling around to different worlds, providing entertainment for some gods in this weird gameshow they have."

  "You are providing entertainment for these gods? What was that story about gaining power and influence in this world to defeat a rot about then?" Chris asked.

  "Well, technically, it was true. You see, all these worlds, including this one, are based on stories from my world. There is a god who sent someone here as a reward for protecting her shrine back on my home world. Well, a version of my home world, anyway. She had left him a note asking him to become stronger and gain influence so he could deal with whatever that rot is. I have repced that guy, making a 'new' story for the gods to watch."

  "So do you know the future?" Katrina asked him, not sure what to believe. The two dwarves were nodding along with him, though. She assumed the two empaths were reading his thoughts to see if he was telling the truth.

  "No. I have no information on these worlds I have been visiting. I am, or I was, an old man before I died and was reincarnated, and a lot of these pces are from novels and shows I have never seen... Well, that isn't quite true. I do know one thing, but I learned that earlier today. The Javarians are coming and, within the next five days, will attack Parrax. Within ten days, the system will fall. The being who warned me about that also told me to keep my friends close, else I will risk losing them." John said, then turned back towards the group. "I consider everyone here to be one of my friends, if not more, and I don't want to see you hurt.

  Tanya, Chris, that is one of the reasons I asked you to join my crew today. I don't want to see either of you come to harm because I might not be nearby to help you. Ash, I was going to ask you as well, but you were indisposed today. Katrina, I know you have your own responsibilities and cannot be part of my crew, but I wanted to tell you about the impending attack, even if you didn't believe me."

  They all stared at John, each with a different expression on their faces. Katrina wasn't sure what to believe; it sounded too far-fetched, but both Chris and Tanya were nodding along, seemingly happy with his expnation. Niki appeared confused, and Ash... Ash was staring at the deck, not looking up at John. Katrina just looked at John, the man she thought was a runaway royal, who turned out to be an... envoy from the gods? That was not even on her list of possibilities.

  What do I think about this?

  She didn't know.