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rescue missions of this type.
    “So you will be rescued in four days, five days at the outside. The lifepods are rated for seven days under a full load. You will be rescued with time to spare.
    “I repeat: You will survive this . But in order to do that you must now offer no resistance. You must not fight. You must not argue. If you do, the Rraey here will show no hesitation in putting you down. I want you to see your family and friends again. I want you to make it back safely to Colonial Union space. Help me help you get there. Let’s get to it.”
    “I don’t believe you,” Thao said, loudly, to Ocampo.
    “That’s fair,” Ocampo said. He nodded to Tvann.
    The Rraey shot the captain in the forehead. She collapsed, dead.
    Ocampo waited for the screams to die down. “As I said, you must not argue. Now follow the Rraey’s orders, please.” He turned away from the Chandler crew and motioned to Commander Tvann to follow him.
    The two Rraey continued toward me, and I saw Tellez tense up to fight.
    “No,” I said to her.
    “They’re going to kill you,” she said.
    “They’re going to kill you if you try to stop them,” I pointed out.
    “We’re dead anyway,” she said.
    “I’d rather you take your chances with a lifepod,” I said. I put my hand on her shoulder as the Rraey arrived. “Thank you, Chieko. I appreciate that you’re willing to fight for me. I really do.”
    “Well, you would for me, right?” Tellez asked.
    “Yes,” I said. “It’s what I’m doing now.” I nodded to the Rraey, letting them know I was ready to go. One of them grabbed me by the shoulder, and we marched away from Tellez and the crew of the Chandler .
    I barely knew any of them.
    I was already feeling guilty that I knew I was going to survive.
    I heard Secretary Ocampo talking to Tvann as I was marched up to him. “How much damage did you do to the ship?” he asked the Rraey.
    “Very little and none that would threaten the ship structurally,” Tvann said. “We only needed to disrupt and disable certain systems.”
    “Good,” Ocampo said. “The Chandler ’s chief engineer said he could get the power back online in twenty hours. Can you do it in the same timeframe?”
    “We will take less time than that,” Tvann said. “We have experience with this, Secretary. As you know.”
    “Indeed I do.”
    “It will be good to have you with us full-time now.”
    “Thank you, Commander Tvann,” Ocampo said. “I agree.”
    “What do you want to do with the rest of the crew?” Tvann said.
    “I told them we’d put them on the lifepods. Let’s do that.”
    “It will be a shame to lose the lifepods.”
    Ocampo shrugged. “They’re really not going to be needed, are they?”
    “No,” Tvann said.
    “Then no real loss. One thing, though. One of the lifepods needs to be destroyed. It has to be plausible that my body isn’t recoverable. Having a lifepod torn up will help with that.”
    “Of course,” Tvann asked. “You have an assistant, yes? Will she be going into the lifepods?”
    “Offer her the choice of the lifepods or coming with us,” Ocampo said. “How much you want to hint to her that the lifepods are a bad idea is up to you.”
    “She did not know?”
    “About this? No. This was a secret, remember?”
    “I believe I will simply order her to come with us. Less complicated that way.”
    “It’s your show,” Ocampo said, and clapped the Rraey on the shoulder, dismissing it. Tvann went to direct the herding of the Chandler crew. Then Ocampo turned his attention to me.
    “Well, Mr. Daquin,” Ocampo said. “Today is your lucky day. You will survive this day, after a fashion.”
    “There’s no emergency drone, is there?” I asked.
    “You mean, to let the Colonial Union know about the Chandler ’s crew,” Ocampo said.
    “Yeah,” I said.
    Ocampo shook his head. “No. No, there is not.”
    “So you’re going to let everyone on the Chandler suffocate in their lifepods.”
    “That’s the most