entourage enough of a head start to reach the Legacy before he does.”
“Then we should do it,” Zahn said. “We should take our chances.”
“Can you guarantee any weapons would be disabled as well?” Verpaelst asked.
“I cannot.”
She shook her head. “No. It’s too risky.”
“Not only that, it’s immoral,” Dusty said. “We’ve followed Captain Denver this far. Abandoning him now would be mutinous.”
“It isn’t mutiny,” Denver said, trying not to smile at his brother’s commentary. “I’m not really anybody’s captain, and making a break for it is just common sense.”
“We should vote.” This was from Manderson, the last captain in the group. “Who thinks we should abandon Captain Denver and make a run for the Legacy?”
Zahn, Houck, and Manderson raised their hands. Houck looked a bit apologetic about it but seemed to feel there was no reason to sacrifice everything and everyone on her ship for a man she barely knew. Denver didn’t blame her.
“Watson, Norrish, and Romig have granted me proxy,” Dusty said. “Which means the captains are five to three for staying with Captain Denver.”
“My ship is carrying over one hundred twenty people!” Zahn pounded his hand on the desktop in front of him. “That’s nearly double what any of your vessels have. My vote should count for more, since I represent a larger percentage of the passengers.”
“And yet we still outnumber you, all together.”
“Not Houck and I together! We represent more than half the total colonists between us.”
“Barely half,” Dusty protested. “Besides, you wouldn’t be here at all if it weren’t for me. Neither of you would. You’d still be back on Titan X, waiting for a chance to get away.”
“That doesn’t mean our fate should be decided by you!”
“Listen,” Denver said, holding up his hands to stop the argument before they started determining how many people on each ship were of legal voting age. “Assuming OPAL is able to disable the Zenith, I’ll give you the coordinates on one condition.”
“Name it,” Houck said.
“You have to take my brother with you.”
Laramie actually jumped to his feet at that.
“That’s illogical,” Gru said. “I’m the one with the knowledge needed to start a new colony. How will any of these fools survive without somebody to tend the plants? They won’t—”
“Why the hell does he get to go?” Ginn asked. “My brother is waiting for me on one of those ships! I should be the one—”
And on top of both of all, there was Spence, staring at Denver. His expression was impossible to read, but it didn’t stop Denver from feeling like the most loathsome ass ever born. Spence had risked as much as anybody for the sake of his sister, and Denver had counted him out of the equation without even asking. But if Denver could only save one person on the Jiminy, there was no question which one it would be.
“Why only one?” Dusty asked, raising her voice to be heard over the argument. “If you’re going to risk disobeying him, why not just transfer everybody to another vessel?”
“We only have one suit,” Marit said, speaking up for the first time. “That’s why only one person can go.”
That at least caused Spence to drop his eyes. He wouldn’t have allowed himself to be separated from Treesa, no matter what. Denver nodded at Marit. “Right. One suit, and very little time. That means one person, with the pod. And that person will be Laramie.”
“Why send the pod without sending the one person capable of keeping its contents alive?” Gru asked. “Who among them knows how to modulate the samples’ energy needs?”
“Rand is only here because of me,” Ginn said. “You can’t expect me to stay here with you when I could go with him.”
“It has to be Laramie. That’s nonnegotiable.”
“This isn’t a dictatorship,” Gru countered. “You have no right—”
“It’s my ship!”
“Why should your brother get the place that’s rightfully mine?” Gru demanded.
Denver turned on him. “Because he needs that planet more than you do!”
“Who are you to decide which of us needs it most?”
“I’m his brother!”
“That doesn’t mean—”
“Yes, you will! Do you think we’ve come this far so I can watch you die here on the Jiminy?”
Everybody fell silent at once. Denver felt the heavy stares of the five armada representatives. With Gru and Ginn talking,