I've flown through space countless times inside spaceships, but I'd never actually been out in it floating freely before. Nothing could prepare me for how vast, beautiful, and downright terrifying it was. Ahead of me there was blackness that was bigger and darker than I could possibly have imagined, but it was punctuated by the brilliant light of untold millions of stars. I wish I could do it more justice, but if there was ever a situation in which words fail, this was it.

The space station loomed behind us, giant, cold, and silent. Our momentum was already carrying us away from it, but we used our suits' inbuilt rocket thrusters to increase our escape velocity. I knew we had to get away, but let me tell you, leaving behind the safety of the station to drift through the endless abyss of space feels like an incredibly unnatural thing to do. It's a little like intentionally throwing yourself into a bottomless pit.

The good news was we had radios and personal locator beacons built into the space suits. Our individual trajectories were carrying us rapidly away from each other and Captain Marmalade, Bigsby, and Clancy were all receding into tiny little dots. But we could communicate with each other and that made it seem a little bit less lonely and frightening. But only a little bit.

After about twenty minutes or so I couldn't see the others at all. The space station still looked huge behind us, but it was steadily getting smaller as we moved further away. Captain Marmalade was continuously trying to contact Belladonna aboard the Flying Fist of Righteousness and after what felt like an eternity she finally responded.

"Good afternoon, fellows," she said. "I've got a lock on your locations, but I'm only reading four of you."

"We didn't all make it," Captain Marmalade radioed back. "Just four to transport please."

"Oh, that's a shame," Belladonna responded. "What happened?"

"Are we really going to discuss this now?" Captain Marmalade asked. "Just get us back on the ship and we'll fill you in on what happened."

"Okay," Belladonna said. "On one condition. You must agree that we will make attaining my revenge our top priority before I transport you. Otherwise you can drift through space until you dehydrate or run out of air. Whichever comes first."

"For the love of-" Captain Marmalade sputtered. "Okay, fine. You've kind of got me over a barrel on this one, Belladonna, but we'll do it your way. After we get the necessary repairs on the ship, I promise we'll go get you your revenge."

"Excellent," Belladonna said and then the radio went silent.

Nothing happened for a few long minutes but then I started to feel a tingling sensation throughout my whole body. This was followed by a blinding flash of light, a feeling of being punched in the stomach, and then a sense of utter nothingness.

The next thing I knew I was back on board the Flying Fist of Righteousness along with the rest of the surviving members of the crew. I felt such a sense of relief at being alive that I thoughtlessly turned to Bigsby, held my hand up in the air and shouted "High five!"

"Oy! Wot's the big idea? You think that's funny? Take yer bloody stupid normal hands and shove 'em where the sun don't shine, ya wanker before I break 'em both off at the wrists. Why the bloody 'ell didn't I let Clancy finish you off when I 'ad the chance? You look at me again I'll kick yer roight in the bollocks!"

"I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean to get off on the wrong foot."

"Wot the bloody 'ell?" Bigsby said as he looked down. His left and right feet had swapped places. "Are you havin' yerself a laugh? We'll see who's laughin' when I pound yer skull into paste, won't we?"

Clancy came over to examine Bigsby's feet and I figured I should just take the opportunity to slip away before I dug myself a deeper hole.

"Congratulations, everyone on a successful mission!" Captain Marmalade shouted. "And this time we only lost two crew members. That's got to be a new record. We're getting better, people. Keep this up and someday we just might all survive a mission. Speaking of which, Marjey, how much time do we have to get out of here in one piece?"

"You made it with I'd say about ten minutes to spare," she replied.

"Fantastic," Captain Marmalade said. "Avery let's get this thing into warp speed before any kind of authorities start chasing us."

"You got it, Captain. Marjey already punched in the coordinates for the repair shop, so we're good to go." He sat down in the pilot's chair, pushed a few buttons, and pulled a lever. The ship jolted into motion and took off.

Captain Marmalade walked over to me and laid a hand on my shoulder. "You doing okay there, Legend?"

"Yeah, I think so." I watched the space station dwindle into nothingness in the viewscreen. A lot had happened there and I certainly would never be the same. Still, it felt good to put it behind me.

"So what do you say?" Captain Marmalade asked. "I gave you the chance to prove you were one of us and you did so in a major way. Not everyone can say they've assassinated a President, Legend, but now you've joined the exclusive club. So you want to join the crew permanently? Looks like we're going to go take on the Cassiopaean Mafia next and that ought to be good for a few chuckles. So are you in or what?"

I took a moment to consider his offer. I had approximately six months left of hacking and trumpet skills before my uploads expired. After that the only thing I would have to offer were my natural born talents, such as they were. Then there was the fact that I was out of a job and I didn't think I was going to get any glowing references from my previous employer. "What the heck, why not?"

"That's great!" Captain Marmalade smiled. "Now we're going to have to find some replacements for Phelps and Bubba. Phelps was an okay saxophonist, but losing Bubba's drumming skills is a real blow to our jazz combo. I'm sure there's lots of other talented drummers out there. You want to help me conduct some interviews?"

"I don't know," I said. "Can I keep my clothes on?"

"We'll negotiate," Captain Marmalade said and then went off to talk to Bigsby and Clancy.

So that was it then. I had joined Captain Marmalade's crew. For reals this time. I never really imagined I would get mixed up in something like this, but I suppose you never know where life is going to take you. And truthfully, I don't think I'd been happy in my job for a long time anyway. Deep down, I don't think my heart was really in it. I may not be an undercover government operator anymore, but I think I'm something even cooler now. My name is Lenny Legend and I'm a space vigilante.