A lesser-known duty of REZQ engineers is to scuttle ships.

That is, it’s sometimes the case that, when a ship is beyond recovery, but its cargo dangerous, unstable or otherwise sensitive, it needs to be destroyed as quickly and as completely as possible. This is mostly to minimise insurance liability to the owners for any damage or injury a drifting ship might cause later, but also — especially if there is a particularly valuable cargo on board — to stop it falling, as salvage, into a competitor’s hands, and giving them boost in an economy where any tiny advantage can make the difference between galactic domination and bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is a particularly unsavoury prospect, raising the spectre, at worst, of an entire workforce ending up incarcerated in a debtors’ prison colony.

Here, Thom sets the self-destruct on a large cargo vessel. He hopes that he’s timed it so that the worst of the blast will be shielded by a moon in whose orbit the stricken vessel is trapped — but this won’t be much help if he can’t get off the ship and back to his own vessel, Angel Fish, before the timer hits zero.