He thought for a moment, flicking his eyes from crewperson to crewperson and doing his best to predict how they would react to his order.
‘If we eject the reaction matter, we’ll be dead in a few days,’ he said. ‘Long before help comes, distress beacon or not. If we keep the reactor running, we’ve got a better than even chance of getting back to the orbital depot, so that’s what we’re going to do. Let’s not forget there’s a hostile vessel out there somewhere, and we do not want to hang around long enough for it to find us. Any questions?’
He did his best to sound more confident than he felt, but there was no immediate protest. He could tell by the look on Harper’s face that she wasn’t happy, but she made no move to disagree.
‘Good,’ Samson said. ‘Mister Vachon, I need you to stay in engineering. Keep the reaction matter under constant observation. Let me know at the first hint of further deterioration.’
‘Aye, sir,’ Vachon said.
‘Harper, keep monitoring for any sign of the unidentified vessel, and anyone else who might be able to help us. The rest of you, back to getting the Bounty ship-shape—she’s likely to be our only transport for some time. Dismissed.’
The rest of the crew returned to their stations, leaving Samson on the bridge with Harper, and a frosty silence. He considered trying to break it with an attempt at humour, but reckoned it would only make things worse. She was a sailor, and it was her duty to follow his orders, whether she liked it or not.
Samson took the bridge watch for the first few hours of their journey toward the system’s Nexus portal. He knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep and was happy to let the others get some rest. He hoped some down time might give the crew the chance to come around to his way of thinking. He mulled over Harper’s suggestion that the Sidewinder’s automated distress beacon had been fired and had survived long enough to get a signal away, but he was far from convinced.
Whatever had hit the Sidewinder had destroyed it fast, and completely. He didn’t think the beacon’s systems would have been able to react quickly enough. Any fragment of doubt he might have harboured wasn’t enough to bet his life on. With a little luck, the others would come around to that point of view once they’d had a chance to chew it over. He needed them at their best over the next few days, and that would only happen if they believed in what they were doing.
He was startled from his thoughts when the hatch opened and Harper walked onto the bridge.
‘You’re early,’ Samson said, ‘although I appreciate the gesture.’ He was about to brief her on the ship’s status, which showed no further sign of deterioration, when she spoke.
‘I’m not sure if you will appreciate it,’ she said. ‘I want to ask you to reconsider your decision.’
‘About continuing on?’ Samson said incredulously. ‘Absolutely not. I thought we were agreed on it.’
‘If the beacon got its distress signal away, there could be help here within seven days. I’ve run the numbers with Mister Vachon, and we’re agreed. We can survive that long.’
Samson’s stomach turned over. He knew what direction things were headed when crew members started discussing the command of the ship behind the commander’s back.
‘I’m afraid I disagree,’ he said. ‘We’ve no reason beyond wishful thinking to believe the beacon got a message away. I’ve given my orders, and that’s the end of it.’
‘It’s not that straightforward,’ she said. ‘I can’t let you endanger our lives by disregarding protocol. Reaction matter cascades aren’t something to be taken lightly. No more lightly than what I’m about to do.’
Vachon and Kushnir stepped through the hatch onto the bridge, both with their sidearms drawn. Samson let out a sigh.
‘Lieutenant Samson, in accordance with naval regulations, I’m relieving you of command for your failure to observe proper protocol in relation to the fragmentation of the ship’s reaction matter and thus recklessly endangering all the lives on board.’
Samson remained silent for a moment, and could see the look of concern on her face that she might have to use force to get him out of the command chair. He could also see the resolution in that expression. If she had to use it, she was prepared to. There was little he could do. He had left his pistol with the rest of his kit in the master’s cabin, although he suspected it had already been confiscated.
‘If that signal didn’t go out, we’re all dead,’ Samson said, speaking now to the two sailors on the bridge in the hope they might reconsider their support. ‘You’ve nothing to go on but some static and hope. Even if it did, help might not arrive in time. Do you really think that gives us a better chance than continuing on?’
‘It’s a risk,’ Harper said, ‘but it’s a better one than the choice you’d have us all make.’
‘As soon as you shut the power plant down, that’s it. There’s no way you can start it up again without fracturing the reaction matter further. That’ll guarantee a cascade.’
‘It’s going to cascade anyway. We’ll make air and food until it shows the first sign of starting, then eject it. It’s the proper way to deal with this scenario.’
‘You’re damning us all,’ Samson said. His temper was rising, but he was powerless to express it. They’d shoot him dead before he could get to them. ‘At least
