“What choice is there, Commander?” Carson looked around the room, his eyes finally landing on the spot where the suit’s head covering had landed. If I don’t go, we all die.” Carson hoped he sounded brave, but inside he was struggling to fight the urge to run for the door. He’d never felt fear like this, and the idea of stepping into that chamber terrified him like nothing he’d ever experienced. But there was no choice.

“You know what to do, right?”

“Yes, Commander. I know.”

And if you do it fast enough…if you get out of there in a few minutes, just maybe this suit will be enough to save your life…

“You are a good man, Sam…one of the best I’ve ever served with…”

“Thank you, Commander.” His voice cracked a little as he spoke, but he managed to cling to his fragile control. He knew Fritz meant well, but the last thing he needed now was emotion, to think about what he was about to do. This was an engineering fix and nothing more. At least that was what he told himself…that was what he needed to believe to step into that chamber.

He slid the head piece down over the suit, running his hand over the connecting strip. The rad suit was the best protection Confederation science had developed, but that chamber was full of high energy gamma rays. The suit would offer considerable protection, but it wouldn’t block everything.

He stood in front of the airlock for a moment, taking a few deep breaths. The AI control system was down with the ship’s main power, so he reached out and opened the emergency panel. There was a handle inside, and he placed his hand around it and pulled.

The door slid open and he stepped in. Then he turned and repeated the process with the interior panel, closing the door behind him.

There was a similar control on the inner door. He opened the panel and stared at it for a moment. When he opened it, the airlock would be flooded with radiation. He didn’t know how long he had, what number of minutes and seconds his suit would keep the deadly threat at bay, or at least enough at bay that regen treatments could save his life. But he knew it wasn’t long. He didn’t have time to waste. Dauntless didn’t have time to waste.