Using a questionable metaphor, the chief prosecutor marveled why go down with the ship if not the captain. Then he reminded me of my allegorical status, a mere sailor.

I explained my rank didn’t matter because I am on the ship, it’s our ship, and there’s simply no other ship.

J. S. O’Keefe is a scientist, trilingual translator and writer. His short stories and poems have been published in Everyday Fiction, Roi Faineant, 101 Words, Spillwords, ScribesMICRO, 50WS, AntipodeanSF, Friday Flash Fiction, Spirit Fire Review, Medium, Paragraph Planet, WENSUM, 6S, Satire, MMM, etc.