Borsh stopped his typing as he mulled over Reilly’s words. He stared at Chapel, then Reilly. Both men were lost in alien purple sky in front of them as the capsule plunged through the air. Borsh shrugged and returned to his typing.

“Why did I wake up last?” Reilly asked with eyes trained on Chapel’s back. He watched the pilot squirm in his chair. He was never good at concealing his feelings. It was both a source of strength and weakness although Reilly couldn’t decided which.

Chapel continued to stare out window while Borsh hammered on the keys. Although the cabin was cool, Reilly felt the tips of his ears to start to grow hot.

“Borsh, you want to explain to-”

“You woke up last,” Chapel interrupted. “Because I asked Borsh to set it that way.”

The drogue chute fired, jerking the capsule hard. Reilly’s shoulder straps cut into his shoulder, feeding the fire that pulsed through his veins. The freefall sensation dampened, but Reilly didn’t even notice.

“You ordered Borsh to change ship’s protocol? You violated-”

“And we’re alive because of it,” Chapel snapped. He swiveled in his chair and met Reilly’s hard stare. They were two bulls, ready to charge one another. “If you had woke up first, you would have still needed to wake me and Borsh up. That would have cost us time.”

“You had no right.”

“I had every right,” Chapel fired back. “Especially when my life is on the line. Do you realize that if I followed your order we’d be dead by now. You should be thanking me.”

“As long as I am captain of this expedition, you will follow my more orders. Do you understand?”

Chapel swiveled back in his chair.

“Do you understand?” Reilly yelled.

The main chute fired, jerking the ship once again although not as hard. Reilly should have felt elation, but his anger was a fist that pushed him forward.

“You leave me no choice,” Reilly said. “When we get back stateside, I’m going to request the service to file charges of expulsion on you. You’ll never fly in space again.”

Chapel cackled like he were spitting on his commanding officer. He didn’t turn back in his chair. He didn’t need to.

“Go ahead and file your charges. Good luck seeing as we’re stranded on some unknown world without any way of getting home.”

“Gentlemen,” Borsh said. “I have learned why we were ejected from the Beagle.”

He turned to Reilly looking like a boy who had just peed down his leg.

“There was no accident. We were ejected on purpose.”

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