Escape

By Simon Hole

Although never tested under field conditions, the pods performed exactly as designed, ejecting seconds before the leading edge of the asteroid struck the freighter. The lives of all seven souls aboard were saved.

The AIs that controlled everything—star jumps, crew environment, threat assessment, pod deployment—they, of course, had no souls and thus did not need saving.

Activating the homing beacon, Ensign Harper maneuvered his pod to watch the breakup of his ship.  He was surprised when he saw that the damage was minimal. He watched, astonished, as the star drive fired and the AIs departed, leaving their creators behind.