Free Birthright: Battle for the Confederation- Consequence by Ryan Krauter

of training such as on a military vessel or larger ship; the layout was standardized for the common life form.
                  After a few minutes, things were running smoothly and Loren returned to the bridge, clanking down the gantry the whole way.
                  "Everything good up here?" Loren asked of Velk, who was now seated at the navigation console.
                  "Yes.  I have restarted the system and was about to engage the hyperdrive again."
                  Loren just extended his arm, palm up, to Velk in a gesture meant to tell the Priman to go ahead.
                  Velk tapped the 'confirm' button, and they were off again.
     
     
                  The second day passed faster than the first.  Loren and Velk talked a bit about the plan once they landed and who they'd contact first.
                  When it was time to call it a night, Loren took first watch.  While they'd searched the ship and weren't expecting company, they'd both agreed that the rust bucket they were tooling around in probably needed constant supervision. 
                  Among the supplies they'd brought were sleeping mats, and Velk had stretched his out in the forward portion of the bridge where it was darkest. 
                  Loren occupied himself first with field stripping and cleaning his SSK, then running an inventory of the items they'd take with them when they got to the surface.  After that, he spent some time playing with the ship's sensors and then trying to crack its various encrypted files.
     
                 
                  Two hours into the watch, Loren noticed the systems panel changing status.  The atmospheric pressure was dropping slowly, which would eventually result in hypoxia and death if unchecked.  Problem was, there were no detected hull or bleed air problems that the computer could detect. 
                  Loren suddenly realized what was going on.  He stood up quickly, chair tipping over with a crash, as he almost hit his head on an overhead light ballast. 
                  "Velk!" he said forcefully but quietly.
                  Loren turned to the rear hatch to go secure it when he heard the telltale priming charge of a blaster from the starboard side of the bridge.  His SSK was on the console just out of reach.
                  "Don't even look at that thing," came a voice from the darkness, "or I'll shoot you down and just ask the other guy what's going on here."
                  A man took a few careful steps forward and Loren instantly knew it was the captain.  They'd checked the whole crew over, but none had talked during their transfer to Avenger's brig and everyone had assumed the captain was simply among them but didn't want to admit it.  Apparently, the captain has been on his ship the whole time.
                  "You must have some well shielded stash compartments," Loren said with a measure of respect.
                  "I don't care what you have to say; let's just get that out of the way right now.  I'm taking my ship back.  You and your friend over there are going to our prisoner cells."
                  "Can I ask your name?" Loren said.
                  "Captain Ares," the pirate replied.  "Don't forget it."
                  "I guarantee that."
                  "Now, where's your friend?"  Captain Ares shot a glance at the forward part of the bridge, but couldn't see into the dark.  He took another step forward and reached up to a panel bolted haphazardly to the compartment's ceiling.  He flipped a couple old fashioned toggle switches and the bridge lit up with yellow emergency lights.  Though it was a bit of a strain on the eyes, there were no more places to hide.
                  Captain Ares looked at Velk's