Space Ranger

Escape from SP7

Steve noticed it rather quickly. After a few months on his ship, Sugar Pine 7 was acting weird. They didn't like to listen. They seemed to avoid him and Cib seemed to be more bold. More in control.

Steve headed into the medbay to check on Autumn. She was supposed to be working on something. She said it had something to do with minds...

He hadn't actually been listening though. He had been a little distracted with a mission report he needed to send to Toast.

His crew seemed more violent too. The rule, for everyone in the corporation, was only kill if needed. And they were trying to kill everything. It worried him. It really did.

He entered the medbay and saw the girl there. He had been pretty close to her back on earth, but everyone on the ship seemed so far away.

It made Steve worry for his team. His crew. He only wanted to keep them safe while up here. He wanted to be a good guy. But he felt different up here than on his home planet.

"Steve!" Autumn said. She was holding a syringe and walked towards him. He took a weary step back.

"Autumn? Hope you aren't planning on stabbing me with that," Steve said in a more joking way but he was dead serious. She let out a giggle and Steve smiled. "So what is it?"

Well. It's used to control minds. From a computer, or verbally. Depending on how we want it," she responded. She injected a little into a rat and spoke. "Sit on Steve's shoulder," she said. Steve gave her a look and the rat scurried up his suit and onto his shoulder,

"While this is very impressive, that's not allowed. You can't take control over a living creature Autumn. It's wrong," Steve said gently. Autumn frowned at him,

"But imagine what we could do with it-" she started to defend herself. Steve cut her off with a sharp tone.

"I said no. Ok? Now undo it," he snapped. Autumn glared at him, upset by his reaction.

"You can't. It's permanent," she hissed, Steve kept a cold gaze on her. This wasn't like her at all, who even told her to make that? That's not something she would make without orders. Only one other person could give orders.

Cib

"Then figure it out," he said and left. Autumn muttered something under her breath that Steve couldn't quite hear. "Would you like to repeat that Autumn?" He asked, pausing. She looked at him.

"No sir," she mumbled and placed the rat back into its cage. Autumn wasn't a violent person, and she certainly wasn't one to control things. So that left him stuck on one question.

The hell was happening on his ship?

Steve finally confronted Cib. He stormed into his shared room with his partner and let out a low growl. Cib turned around and saw how pissed their leader was.

"Why the hell is everyone acting so weird?" He snapped to his second in command. Cib stared at him with a head tilt. Steve pinned the shorter man up against a wall, clearly pissed off

"What do you mean?" He asked, even though he knew what was going on. Steve kept a steady glare on him. He had zero trust right now.

"You know exactly what I mean," Steve growled at him. Cib commed for backup. Steve was jerked back by James and Alfredo. "Let me go now," he hissed. Cib smirked and walked over to the taller man.

"Sorry Steven. I'm in control of Sugar Pine 7 now. You've been replaced," Cib said in a low tone. Steve stared in shock before jumping into action. He didn't want to kill them but he may not have an option

He jerked forward and headbutted Cib. The other two men dropped him. Cib stumbled back into the wall and landed on his back. Steve heard him groan.

Steve turned sharply and punched James in the jaw. He slammed backwards into a wall and didn't move. He was breathing though. Steve felt a little relief.

He finally dealt with Alfredo. He kicked his side and the man stumbled back. Alfredo went to make a move but Steve blocked him. He slammed Alfredos head against the wall and it was lights out.

Cib was slowly sitting up with a glare. Steve took off at a full on sprint. Cib was chasing him. He ran straight to a dropship only to be intercepted by Autumn. He paused and she stared at him.

"Steve, you can't leave," she said. He glanced behind him. Cib was gaining. He knew he needed to escape. Apparently he's blind as a fucking rat. He dropped his gaze into a glare.

"Move Autumn before I make you," he hissed, not trying to play nice. He saw Autumn flinch back but she stood her ground pretty well. Steve grabbed her right as the sound of. A gun went off. He used her as a shield and heard a gasp.

He didn't even stop to see what happened. He grabbed a dropship and took off with it. Heading into deep space, to who knows where. He collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

No. This wasn't exhaustion. He took a breath and realized what was happening. They were using sleep gas on him. He covered his mouth and nose with his shirt and went to the computer.

"Come on. Come on," he whispered. He only knew of one other person to call. One other person he could trust. DK. "Please get this bud," Steve begged. He knew it was too late though.

He had inhaled too much of the gas and saw black dots dance across his vision. Steve grabbed onto a box. He made one final attempt to be saved, SP7 was after him and he needed help

He hit the emergency button and felt himself pass out. All he knew was weakness and then blackness as he hit the floor.