Chapter Forty-Two: Clarissa

With Ashford’s order to seal the transition points, Clarissa, Cortez, and armed Belter guards ride the lift to the Behemoth’s command decks. Ashford assumes the captain’s station and oversees preparations to turn the comm array into a one-shot weapon against the station, while Clarissa reflects on identity, sacrifice, and her father’s legacy.

Progress stalls as Chief Engineer Sam Rosenberg reports cascading delays: overridden safeties, realignment issues, and component faults. Hours pass, tempers fray, and Ashford demands results. Suspecting obstruction, he summons Sam and her second, Anamarie Ruiz, to the bridge.

Confronted, Sam estimates six-plus hours to fabricate breakers and replace cabling; Ruiz counters with a two-hour workaround using conductive foam. Without warning, Ashford shoots Sam in the head, declaring her a saboteur, and orders Ruiz to deliver in two hours. Guards bag the body while Cortez, horrified, protests due process; Ashford asserts absolute command and threatens to return Cortez to the drum.

Clarissa leads a shaken Cortez to the head, counseling stoic acceptance and framing their deaths as necessary sacrifice to save those beyond the Ring. She weighs Ashford’s motives against her own need for redemption, trying to quiet her fear by embracing inevitability.

An alert suddenly sounds from command. Ashford, furious, demands a status from Jojo, signaling that a new, urgent problem is unfolding just as the clock to fire begins.