A dull orange smoke filled the passenger bay, the cabin lights casting volumetric cones that ended too soon.

Ishikawa and Drone Three closed the second-last escape pod. Drone Two opened the last one, into which I ushered Reyes and Hart (after a brief nod at the latter). Ishikawa paused at the locked door.

“Captain Ishikawa, there is not time for hesitation. Get in.”

“This is an escape vehicle. There isn’t enough room for one of you, let alone four.”

I nodded, flaring the three drones’ thruster packs and my own into atmospheric descent configuration.

“I’m sending one drone to the other shuttle. I’ll be watching the other escape pods as they land in case something happens.”

He relaxed, and stepped into the pod. Carefully, because gyroscopic stabilisation didn’t mean the rest of the world was so static, I closed the hatch and set the master eject switch, then the Door 1 open switch.

Nothing happened.