He wondered if there was any way he could get by without them. Arlen had, but he hadn’t needed to deal with a power plant that was teetering on the edge of spectacular failure, nor the spectre of a hostile ship with tremendous firepower. The simple fact was that their survival odds were far higher with Vachon in the engine room. Only Harper could operate the Nexus relay if they made it back to the depot, so he’d need her to send a message back to command. There were other ways to get a message back to the Core, but they were glacially slow by comparison. It meant there were alternatives, though, so while she was convenient, she was expendable. Spacing her and Kushnir might well do more harm than good.
Once the ship was committed to Samson’s plan, they would depend on its success as much as anyone. He hoped that would be enough to get what he needed out of them. Once they got to the depot and the message was sent, they could have a far franker conversation. One that would happen close to an airlock.
Having made the decision to allow them all to live, at least for the time being, Samson set the power plant to a slow cycle back up to the minimum level needed for propulsion, and left the bridge to find out what Price had done with the mutineers.
Price had left a Marine to guard each door behind which their prisoners resided.
‘I’d like to speak with Mister Vachon,’ Samson said.
‘Lieutenant Harper’s in here,’ Price said. ‘Smit’s on Mister Vachon.’ He gestured to Smit, who was standing at the next door along the corridor. Smit let Samson in, where he found Vachon sitting on the edge of the mattress-less bed, a forlorn look on his face.
‘Do you really think the Sidewinder got a signal away?’ Samson said, dispensing with any greeting or words of chastisement.
‘I don’t know, sir. Can’t discount it.’
‘You saw the wreckage scans. Sidewinder disintegrated almost instantly.’
Vachon shrugged. ‘There’s a possibility.’
‘A slim one, and not one I’m willing to stake my life, or anyone else’s, on. I’m powering the ship back up, and will be getting her underway as soon as she’s ready. I need you to keep an eye on the reaction matter. The simple fact is you are now a mutineer, and Sergeant Price will be only too happy to help me throw you out of the nearest airlock. Carry out the task that I need of you, and we can discuss what I’m going to put in my report when we get to the relay.’
‘I—’
‘Refuse, and you’ll be going for a swim in the next five minutes,’ Samson said, allowing his anger to flavour his voice. ‘I’m not going to lie to you. As far as I’m concerned, your career is over. I’ll make damned sure of that, but if you help, and we make it through this, I’ll not send you to a firing squad. That’s your deal.’
‘If we have to eject en route, we’ll be adrift, but millions of kilometres from where Sidewinder sent the distress signal.’
‘From where it might have been sent. Something we have no worthwhile evidence of. Your solution is to not even bother trying to save ourselves. That’s not my way. That’s not the Navy way. I’m giving a chance to get yourself somewhat out of the mess you’ve made, and help keep us all alive. It’s up to you now. Help, or step out of the airlock.’
‘We’ll have a better chance if the matter’s being monitored and teased. I can hardly say no.’
‘Good,’ Samson said. He wondered if he should have one of Price’s Marines keep him under watch. He didn’t need the Marines for anything right now, so it made sense. ‘You can resume your duties. Follow my orders to the letter. I will not give you another chance.’
‘Aye, sir. I’ll do my duty.’
‘Good. Return to duty in the engineering bay. Smit will be keeping an eye on you.’
Samson turned to leave.
‘It wasn’t anything personal, sir. Lieutenant Harper was just doing what she thought was for the best.’
Samson felt his anger flare. He thought about responding to that, but then thought better of it. ‘You know what you have to do, Mister Vachon. See that you do it.’
Samson paused outside once the door closed behind him. Who next, Kushnir or Harper? He didn’t need Harper yet, so he could leave her to sweat for a while. That was the least she deserved. Kushnir, he didn’t need at all. He was the youngest of the bunch, probably the easiest to influence. Samson wondered if he should go easier on him because of that. From considering spacing him to going easy on him in moments—not the most consistent display of leadership. Something else to work on.
If he didn’t have a pressing need for Kushnir, Samson reckoned there was little harm in leaving him to stew in his juices for a while too. Dealing with them both when he’d had the chance to let his anger cool off was no bad thing either.
He returned to the bridge and checked the power plant’s status. Satisfied there was enough to get them underway at as fast a pace as he was willing to risk, he entered a heading for the Nexus portal, and throttled up gently. He enjoyed the fleeting sensation of thrust that the Bounty’s long-dead inertial dampeners failed to eliminate. The ship reached target velocity, and the feeling disappeared. He was still breathing, and the ship was still intact. So far, so good. He’d had more than enough excitement for one day.
10
Any unexpected sound represented a source of momentary anxiety for Samson on the journey across the system toward the Nexus portal. It took him a moment to process the
