Federation Fallen: The Corruption of Captain Cere

I could feel my blood pumping, my heart pounding. "Shanus, you're sure this is where Steele is heading?" I asked, standing at the head of the navigation bay, and staring out the large glass window into space. Shanus nodded. "Aye captain Hi'yaaka, we have a confirmed sighting of his ship tailing a distress beacon. We should be coming up on it now." I nodded. "Probably hoping to pillage a downed ship." The piloting crew all looked over their monitors. "Captain" One of them said, with her brows furrowed. "I'm not picking up a distress beacon, but there is a small anomaly to our starboard side." I breezed over to look at the monitor, then looked up to squint out the window. "But there's nothing there-" I stumbled back, words failing. My eyes went wide. "It's a trap!" But it was too late. I almost lost my footing as the SSF Turbulence shifted to the left. "Damnit. Shanus!" I turned to reprimand the head bridge officer for leading us right into a trap, but he was gone. Vanished. "God damnit!" I should have known better. I should have known that Steele was leading us right into a trap. It was never this simple. He was careful, calculating, and frustratingly chaotic. The only times I got leads on him was on pure accident. But I was determined to catch him, and that single mindedness landed me and my crew in danger. I had turned down better positions in the fleet for this, because if I didn't catch Steele before my past with him went public, I could kiss my career goodbye. I thought this was my chance to finally put him behind bars, and the mistake of my fling with one of space's most wanted criminals behind me. I should have been panicking at the idea of falling into his grasp, but there was also a cold trickle of excitement running through my blood. A rush of adrenaline. Everything happened so fast, and before I even knew it, my navigation pit was being raided by Steele's men. I pulled out my pistol and fired off a shot as one rushed me, but when he dodged I barely missed one of my own men. "f**k!" I cursed. There was no way I could fight them in this close of quarters. I threw my hands up, dropping my gun. "I surrender- my crew surrenders. There's no need to use force." But use force they did. I was cuffed and dragged to a holding bay on Steele's ship. I was throttled back and forth between the pirate thugs, groped and bruised before unceremoniously tossed into the brig. From behind the bars, I glared as the captain strolled in. "Steele." I spit, as I tensed against my restraints. That only made him grin wider.  "Well... well... well... what a pretty little fly to land in my web.” His low voice was practically a purr. Even smugly bearing down on me, the tousled curls in his hair gave him a playful look. "Less of a fly, and more another spider. I'd be careful if I were you, cause only the female black widows are venomous." she said, with a scowl. "Funny because even black widows do anything to protect their young..." he flipped on the monitor to show the rest of my crew sitting in the hangar bay. The giant bay doors were closed for the moment, but a single command could open them, killing 60 crewmen instantly. He turned and said, "Anymore words of bravery?" My eyes widened as I looked over my frightened crew. I was supposed to protect them, and Steele was right. I would do practically anything to keep them alive. All he had to do was open that bay door and I would single handedly be responsible for the deaths of an entire crew. I grit my teeth. This couldn't be happening. This was all my fault. I turned back to Steele. "You have me. Let my crew go. Please, Steele. You're a pirate, not a cold blooded killer of innocents." I pleaded with my eyes. "This was my f**k up. Let me suffer for it, but not them. Please." Instead of an answer, I was interrupted by a familiar voice. "Captain." The comm chirped. He tapped his wrist comm and said, "What is it?" "Our crew has taken over the Turbulence. We have the command codes for the vessel. She is ours now." A man said on the other side of the door. When he looked back at me, he must have seen the shock in my eyes. "Oh... don't be surprised. The plan worked perfectly. Didn't it Commander Reed?" The airlock doors hissed, and Commander Shanus Reed, My first officer, stepped into the room with a look of smugness in his eyes. I had been betrayed, and worse of all, by my second in command. He had been working for Steele this whole time. How? How had he been able to have a spy so high up in the federation? Truly, Steele was a force to be reckoned with. I had underestimated him for the last time. Shanus smirked, "It wasn't too hard. She has been so hell bent on finding you that she never suspected you had an agent on the inside." He prowled closer to my cell to gloat at me. Big mistake. "Oh you're dead. You're f*****g dead." I spit at him, fire in my eyes. Steele was one thing. Steele was a devil and a mogul and a pirate. But Shanus was a lying slug. I flew at Reed, even with my fists cuffed, reared back and head butted him straight in the nose. Steele grinned and stifled a laugh, watching as Shanus stumbled backwards. Reed’s eyes were full of rage, and he pulled back a fist. I braced myself for the hit, but Steele’s men grabbed his arms. He froze and glared at Steele "What is the meaning of this?" "She is a prisoner now, under my care. I won't let anyone hurt what is mine." Steele said calmly. “There’s a harem on deck six. See to it.” “What if I want her cunt?” He growled, pulling against the guards.  Steele shrugged. “Then I’m afraid you’re out of luck. She’s not on the table.” I stuck my tongue out at Reed, relishing his dogged retreat, but my pleasure faded when Steele rounded on me. “As for you-” he said, grabbing my chin and pulling my face up to look at him. “Act out again, harm my crew again, even make a move without my permission, and your crew dies. Follow my commands, and they will stay alive. Nod if you understand.” My eyes blazed. “First of all, I didn’t harm your crew. Last I checked, Reed was part of mine.” I pulled against his grip on my face. "Second, you expect me to roll over for you, give up nice and easy while you KEEP my crew hostage? No. That's not how it works. Trapped here on this ship forever, they're as good as dead anyways. So no, I won't play nice. Unless-" I slipped my hands through the bars to touch his chest. It was still as chiseled and hard as the last time I had touched it. He hissed in a breath, and I saw his eyelids flutter, for just a moment. “You have a better offer?” Steele reached in and grabbed my collar, pulling me so his lips were inches from mine. “You talk as if you’re in any position to negotiate.” He growled, then let go sharply, causing me to stumble backwards. “You forget this about me- I’m pretty f*****g good at getting what I want. And at destroying anything in my way. So I’ll ask again. Are you going to follow my commands?”  He pressed a button on his wrist comm, and a picture of my ship appeared on the screen. My heart dropped as the number 10 appeared next. Then a 9. Then an 8. “Nod if you understand.” My eyes darted back and forth, from his face to his screen. Was he bluffing? Would he blow my entire crew out into the vacuum of space? How cold was he? But I wasn't prepared to take the risk and see. I let him count, getting as low as five while trying to think of any other way to get my crew out of there. No ideas came, and the only thing I could do right now was keep them alive.  I stared at him, eyes wide in horror. Then I gave one curt nod. He let the numbers continue to count down, until I nodded and whispered- “Please-” He pressed a button on his wrist comm and the countdown stopped, just in time. He pressed another button on his comm, and the doors of my cell swung open. “Follow.” He barked.