Angel nods quietly, unslinging his rifle.

"Odds are it won't come down to that."

Max sends Angel out to recover Luis' demolitions kit and one of the AT-4 launchers. It's not hard for Riviera to walk casual; he's already established to any spying eyes that he's on watch for the group. He takes a more cautious attitude on his return trip through the darkened, cramped vessel and makes it back to the cargo bay right behind Hugh.

Hugh can't hide his inquisitive look when Max starts unwrapping bricks of C-4 like it was Christmas morning.

Davis waits not-so-patiently for everyone to get back. The sooner they get this hack done, the sooner they know if they really need to rig this thing to blow.

Max does what he can with Stanhill's explosives. He rigs two shaped charges - given what he's seen of the Turai ships, he figures these bombs should blow at least a meter-size hole through Akamu's hull.

He synchs up the remote. It's a standard clacker with a flip-up safety switch, but it's been modified to detonate when the firing button is released.

Max figures he's done what he can with what he's got, and there's been no sign that Max's computer hacking or Angel's silent forays have been detected.

---

Right about this time, Luis wakes up. Something crossing the dim yellow safety lights in the barracks. His eyes clear to reveal a groggy Yaris quietly grabbing a handful of jumpsuit and heading to the door. She turns back, oblivious to Luis' attention, and grabs a small handgun from her bunk as an afterthought before cycling the barracks door.

(EDIT: you haven't actually planted the explosives yet)

Hugh walks into the cargo bay just as the guys are putting the finishing touches on the charges.

"Um, Doc...is there a specific reason why you're building bombs?"

The word "bombs" breaks through Semo's much-appreciated sleep and cranks him awake to see Captain Verrill inquiring about Max, who, along with Davis, appears to be finishing up with some rather large shaped charges.

Angel's there and still awake, but then he slept back on Earth.

Gatac wrote:

Hugh walks into the cargo bay just as the guys are putting the finishing touches on the charges.

"Um, Doc...is there a specific reason why you're building bombs?"

Max raises his index finger, letting him know there's a scientist at work and will be right back after these important messages.

"Call it an insurance policy....If anything, you'll be pleased to hear Davis and I have finally come to understanding. Granted, it involves the use of high explosives in a confined area, but at least we're now getting along...right?"

"Insurance policy? I'm interested in how you came to the conclusion that assembling explosives aboard a spaceship makes us safer. Is this just random paranoia or do we actually have anything solid to worry about?"

Hugh's look says Tread Very Carefully. He obviously doesn't appreciate Max's initiative.

Semo comes awake, quickly alert from trained reflex. He sees Hugh and Max and what looks like one or more bombs. "What the hell?..." he mutters.

The pair discuss, and it's clear that Hugh isn't well pleased. Semo levers his bulk to a standing position, straps on his sidearm and moves over near Hugh to peer down at Max with an inquiring expression.

Gatac wrote:

"Insurance policy? I'm interested in how you came to the conclusion that assembling explosives aboard a spaceship makes us safer. Is this just random paranoia or do we actually have anything solid to worry about?"

Hugh's look says Tread Very Carefully. He obviously doesn't appreciate Max's initiative.

"Given the tendancy for the crew to sell out its passengers, I'm inclined to think we should prepare for the inevitable. Davis is of the same opinion, right?" replies Max, turning to Davis for some support.

"Sell out? Wha..."

It is at this moment that Hugh simply snaps up an unattended laptop and goes over the accumulated data. A minute later, he puts it down again.

"Okay. First off, no matter the situation, you're playing with firecrackers in a paper house. I admit that spacecraft design is not my forte, but I'm pretty sure blowing one of those is gonna kill us all - that's what you built 'em for, right? All I know is that this design is barely cleverer than the roadside IEDs in Baghdad. Second, if anyone is getting us killed, it's gonna be my call, so when the fuck did you plan to wake me up? Oh, wait, you can't tell Daddy. He'll take your toys away and tuck you back into bed. Which is, in fact, exactly what I'm gonna do. Well done, boys."

He turns to Semo.

"Sarge, take Doctor Kilgore and Agent Davis away from the charges and see to it that they get some quality sleep before the wakeup call. I'll go fetch Stanhill and have him dissemble these. As for you, gentlemen, we'll talk about this later. As a matter of fact, I share your concern about these logs, but we're going to settle this like grownups instead of this suicide pact shit."

Noting a flinch on Max's face, he adds:

"If you don't shape up soon, I swear I'll turn this car around. With both of you in plasticuffs. No more tinkering and contingency planning without my approval, understood?"

He waits for nods/grunts/head-hanging, then turns around and heads back to crew quarters to fetch Luis.

The Army recruiter never mentioned babysitting.

Davis raises his hand like he's in grade school. "Oh, before you cart us away in irons, can we do the hack that would tell us whether or not they're going to sell us out to the Imperium?"

Hugh thinks for a moment.

"No. Stanhill will do the hack. Start writing down notes of what he'll need to do it. I'll let you near a laptop again once you give me a good reason to trust you."

Max finishes the last of the wiring then turns to Hugh.

"Before you start invoking military protocol, I'd like to remind the studio audience that we're a long-gone-hell-and-a-ways from the nearest military base. Your authority is only as good as the people willing to follow it. I've played nice and civilian up till now, but it's time to stop running..."

Punkey wrote:

Davis raises his hand like he's in grade school. "Oh, before you cart us away in irons, can we do the hack that would tell us whether or not they're going to sell us out to the Imperium?"

The Action Scientist's tirade is interrupted.

"...and that might be a good idea too. They may yet be method to our madness."

Meanwhile...

THUMP!

Luis calculates for a second, then rolls out of bed. He hits the deck hard on his side and instantly feigns snapping awake. Yaris whips around, and Luis catches that she hastily tucks the weapon under the wrinkled jumpsuit that she's hastily covering herself with. If he hadn't already seen the handgun, he wouldn't have noticed. The pilot regains her composure and says softly, "Go back to sleep, there's safety webbing if you feel like you're going to fall out again."

The bald woman walks out the hatch and heads towards the bridge without waiting for a reply.

Next to Luis, Kovos stirs but quickly settles back into the gentle breathing of sleep. The bunk above him - Hugh's - is empty.

Davis rolls his eyes in a "here we go" kind of way, and gets out of the way of the incoming ass-chewing.

Hugh fixes Max with a glare for the longest time.

"...hand over your gun, Doctor Kilgore. You're relieved of duty. Sarge, if he makes any trouble, knock him on his ass and restrain him."

He leans in extra close.

"I don't need fancy rules-lawyering when I have Sergeant Putupu ready to sit on you. This one's going in the report, and I suggest you smile and nod unless you want to be dragged kicking and screaming the rest of the way."

Then, his voice kicks into a decidedly higher volume. Some might call it a shout.

"DO. YOU. UNDERSTAND?"

Taylor and Mellish are awake now, grabbing their gear and figuring out that yes, they were asleep, yes, they're still in a spaceship millions of miles from anywhere, and yes, Kilgore and Cap are still butting heads.

Taylor signs Mellish to watch the cargo bay entrance.

"Yes, sir!" Semo says, snapping a quick salute to the Captain. Turning, he then extends one hand, palm upward and waits for Max to deposit his gun into his hand.

"I sure do..." handing over his pistol, even popping out the chambered round for good measure.

"...But know that half of what you want is on my Toughbook. Without my access codes to get in, my computer turns into a 10lb lump of hard plastic and microchips. And by the time you have Stanhill decrypt it, I think we'll be well on our way to an Imperial Pound-Me-In-My-Alien-Ass prison facility." smiles Max.