The empty escape pod seat spoke volumes.
“She’s scuttled, David,” Arnold said. “There’s no turning back.”
“You don’t know if you’ll hit the planet,” David said, but Arnold’s math was always superb.
He looked at David now, pitying. “This is why you weren’t captain,” he said, buckling his harness. “You lack boldness.”
“It’s why you were never good at it,” David said. “Too flighty.”
A career’s worth of animosity, long suppressed by success, passed between them. Their trusty spaceship soared on in its death throes.
The hatch hissed shut; the pod ejected. Unimpeded, David sat alone in the captain’s chair.
Author’s Note: This is a snapshot of a relationship between two men with opposing core beliefs forced to work together. Whether it’s for better or worse is up to them, I think.