"Seaman Clancey, report to the bridge on the double," the loudspeaker squawked sharply.

Evan shot upright in his bunk, gasping as he cracked his head against his friend's bunk. "Jesus, Evan. What the hell?" his friend Cal growled sleepily from the top berth. "What time is it?"

Evan rubbed his head blearily and grabbed his wrist chrono. "Ummm. Wait, it's 01:43. Morning watch shouldn't start for more than two hours," Evan said with sleepy confusion.

"Must have pissed off the wrong officer, dumbass," grumbled Cal as he rolled over.

"Dumbass," concurred one of his other berthmates from the darkness.

Evan pressed the call button on the panel and stuttered, "S...seaman Clancey reports Aye, sir. ETA is 10 minutes." As he scrambled to gather his uniform and kit in the near-darkness, Evan wondered if his bunkmates were right. He had been carousing and playing cards until just a couple hours ago, and wondered if his winning streak had inadvertently irritated a player higher in the ranks. "Karma," he thought to himself as he stumbled toward the head.

After the absolute bare minimum of what could be considered "grooming," Evan scooted through the empty corridors of the ship contemplating the wisdom of entrusting the helm of the kilometer+ long ship to an enlisted grunt who had barely slept a wink in the last 36 hours. "Hopefully the nav computer will make sure I don't bump into too many planets," he thought optimistically. "And presumably the other ships in the fleet know to scoot out of the way if we get too affectionate... it's the Law of Gross Tonnage!" he thought to himself. "Ugh, speaking of gross, I should have prioritized the mouthwash!"

Evan briefly considered turning back and killing whatever foul-smelling creature had taken residence in his mouth, but glanced at his chrono again and sighed as he realized he was already running late. With a sprint that strained his exhausted legs, Evan rounded the corner and approached the hatch for the bridge.

To Evan's surprise, there were six marines stationed in the corridor outside the hatch. They seemed to tense ominously as he skidded to a halt after rounding the corner and gave him a sharp appraising look. Evan struggled to slow his breathing, tucked in his uniform, and smoothed down his errant hair, then stood rigidly at attention. "Seaman Evans reporting, as ordered!" he barked. The nearest marine spoke quietly into his headset mic and looked at Evan ominously, then relaxed when he apparently received an affirmative reply from inside the bridge. "Very good, seaman. You've been cleared for entry and briefing," the marine said, grabbing Evan by his upper arm and steering him toward the hatch.

"Good," Evan said, relieved that he had not run afoul of whatever security situation had everyone on edge. "What's going on, sergeant? What's with all the extra security...has something gone wrong?"

The sergeant nodded to one of the other marines, who flanked Evan, slapped his watch chron against a sensor next to the door, and started entering a very long code into a keypad. The sergeant watched impatiently and turned back to Evan, who was even more confused by the new security measures. "You'll be brought up to speed in a moment, but everyone is on edge because earlier tonight it was discovered that unauthorized personnel had gained control of the bridge. Thanks to the actions of a couple junior officers and a squad of marines, command was transferred to the appropriate authorities, but it was a near thing."

Evan gasped at the revelation, struggling to imagine how the flagship of the 9th fleet could have come so close to disaster. All of his fatigue seemed to evaporate as the shock of the news hit home, tinged with guilt that he had been goofing off while a threat to the ship had been building. "My God," Evan muttered quietly, then began peppering the marine with questions. "Wait, if you're saying that some junior officers saved the day, does that mean that the senior officers were the ones posing the threat? Barry was helmsman on middle watch... did I get called on watch because he was injured? Or," Evan gasped, "was Barry one of the plotters?" Evan's mind raced at the prospect of his colleague Barry embroiled in such jeopardy and intrigue. It was almost too bizarre to contemplate. "Wait," Evan continued curiously. "If there were apparently compromised officers on the bridge, how do you all know I haven't been compromised, too? Aren't you worried I might be a threat?" Evan asked incredulously as the hatch finally swung open and the marines brusquely pulled him into the bridge.

The sergeant nodded at two other marines that were standing at attention just inside the hatch. They nodded back as one closed and secured the hatch and the other turned to a large bin that was positioned just inside the door. "You are correct, seaman. We are assessing you to be a potential threat until we have good evidence otherwise," the sergeant continued.

Evan was even more confused, sputtering, "If I'm a potential threat, why did you just clear me to enter the bridge? Wouldn't you want to keep me outside until I'm cleared for service?" Evan worried he was sounding too strident and panicked, but as he looked around the bridge all of the crew on duty seemed completely unfazed by his outburst. In peering more closely at their faces, Evan was shocked to see four of his mates from Morning Watch lined up in a row, staring at him blankly.

Evan's attention was ripped back to the marines as the marine standing behind him suddenly pulled the back of his shirt up and slapped something cold and slimy against his spine. "WHAAAAaaaTheFUCK!" Evan screeched as he tried to spin around and rip out of the grasp of the two marines who had latched onto his arms with iron grips. As Evan struggled vainly to escape their clutches he looked imploringly at his friends for help, but was shocked when they continued staring at him impassively for a moment, then turned away.

As Evan tried to understand what was happening to him, his legs began to shake and buckle and the marines gently lowered him to his knees. "whaattttthefuuuu," Evan hissed as he exhaled in confusion and fatigue, feeling his thoughts spiraling down into a abyss. As his body collapsed and his thoughts faded to blackness, a sudden bright light blasted through his brain and shattered everything in its path. Evan spasmed and gasped as the purity of his master's thoughts swept away all of the parts of Evan that did not rejoice in his enslavement. As Evan straightened his back, he smiled broadly as his eyes flashed bright blue. The marines and crew on the bridge nodded and smiled back at him as their eyes returned the flash.

As the sergeant helped Evan back to his feet, he said solemnly, "Now that we've eliminated your host's insidious free will, I hereby certify you as cleared for service, seaman!"

Evan laughed and responded, "Thanks! I'm glad we eliminated that pesky threat to the chain of command!" and clapped the sergeant's back merrily.

Evan then joined his fellow slaves from Morning Watch as they worked with the rest of the command staff to ensure the parasites' authority would soon extend to the entire ship... and fleet.