Chap­ter 6 begins with Mick­ey, the pro­tag­o­nist, feel­ing anx­ious about an impend­ing meet­ing with Mar­shall, the supreme com­man­der of their mis­sion. Reflect­ing on his ini­tial days aboard the Drakkar, Mick­ey recalls his first unset­tling expe­ri­ence with zero grav­i­ty, a ter­ri­fy­ing moment marked by an unex­pect­ed free fall. This expe­ri­ence left Mick­ey with a sense of dread that only deep­ened when he met Mar­shall for the first time. Despite the fear that gripped him, Mick­ey did his best to main­tain his com­po­sure, but Marshall’s impos­ing pres­ence made the encounter unfor­get­table. The pow­er dynam­ic between them became clear right away, and Mick­ey found him­self intim­i­dat­ed by Marshall’s author­i­ty, set­ting the tone for the com­plex rela­tion­ship that would unfold as they worked togeth­er.

Marshall’s intro­duc­tion to the new colonists, deliv­ered in the lounge, was marked by sar­cas­tic remarks and a sharp assess­ment of their space trav­el expe­ri­ence. Dugan, a fel­low colonist, voiced his frus­tra­tion over the lack of per­son­al effects being trans­ferred, only to have Mar­shall reveal that per­son­al items were pro­hib­it­ed due to the mission’s strict weight con­straints. This deci­sion caused an imme­di­ate sense of dis­sat­is­fac­tion among the colonists, as many had hoped to bring along small com­forts to ease their long jour­ney. Mick­ey tried to protest, ques­tion­ing the log­ic behind the restrict­ed lug­gage allowance, but his con­cerns were met with Marshall’s cold, unyield­ing response. Mar­shall then went on to explain the rea­son­ing behind these restric­tions, high­light­ing the sig­nif­i­cant lim­i­ta­tions placed on the mission’s mass. He revealed that trans­port­ing the colonists as frozen embryos was a strate­gic choice, made to min­i­mize the ship’s weight and keep the mis­sion on course. This con­ver­sa­tion served as a sober­ing reminder of the sac­ri­fices they had to make in order to ensure the sur­vival of the mis­sion.

The con­ver­sa­tion between Mick­ey and Mar­shall takes a tense turn when Mar­shall ques­tions Mick­ey about his role in the mis­sion. Mick­ey, frus­trat­ed and attempt­ing to down­play the ten­sion, makes a sar­cas­tic com­ment about being “Expend­able.” Mar­shall, how­ev­er, is not amused by this remark and swift­ly express­es his dis­ap­proval. The inten­si­ty of Marshall’s reac­tion makes it clear that such flip­pant remarks are not tol­er­at­ed in the high-pres­sure envi­ron­ment of the mis­sion. He then orders Mick­ey to find a sling to sleep in, as the sta­tion does not have the resources to pro­vide indi­vid­ual quar­ters. This request leaves Mick­ey feel­ing unset­tled, as it rein­forces the harsh real­i­ty of their liv­ing con­di­tions. The lack of per­son­al space and the seem­ing­ly dehu­man­iz­ing approach to their accom­mo­da­tions serve as a con­stant reminder that the mis­sion is focused on sur­vival, not com­fort. Mick­ey is forced to come to terms with the fact that his phys­i­cal and emo­tion­al needs are sec­ondary to the suc­cess of the mis­sion.

As the chap­ter unfolds, Mick­ey dis­cuss­es the sit­u­a­tion with Dugan and Bree, anoth­er colonist, who reveals more about Mar­shal­l’s per­son­al beliefs. Bree explains that Mar­shall adheres to Natal­ist ide­olo­gies, which hold that when a person’s orig­i­nal body dies, their soul also ceas­es to exist. Accord­ing to this phi­los­o­phy, bio-print­ed indi­vid­u­als, like Mick­ey and the oth­ers, are seen as soul­less and lack­ing intrin­sic val­ue. This rev­e­la­tion leaves Mick­ey feel­ing uneasy, espe­cial­ly giv­en his sta­tus as an Expend­able. The idea that his life holds less mean­ing than those of the orig­i­nal colonists shakes Mick­ey to his core. He real­izes that his exis­tence, as a clone, is viewed with dis­dain by those who hold these beliefs, adding anoth­er lay­er of com­plex­i­ty to his role on the mis­sion. Dugan, try­ing to ease the ten­sion, jokes that as long as Mick­ey remains alive in his cur­rent form, he is still con­sid­ered valu­able in Marshall’s eyes. While the remark is meant to pro­vide some com­fort, it does lit­tle to quell Mickey’s grow­ing dis­com­fort. The chap­ter ends with Mick­ey reflect­ing on his place in this unfor­giv­ing world, ful­ly aware that his sur­vival hinges on nav­i­gat­ing not only phys­i­cal chal­lenges but also the deeply ingrained beliefs and atti­tudes of those around him.

This chap­ter empha­sizes the psy­cho­log­i­cal toll that comes with being seen as “Expend­able.” Mickey’s strug­gles with iden­ti­ty, val­ue, and sur­vival are cen­tral to the nar­ra­tive, illus­trat­ing the deep emo­tion­al con­flict that comes with liv­ing in a world where life is con­sid­ered dis­pos­able. As the chap­ter con­cludes, Mick­ey is left to grap­ple with the com­plex­i­ties of his exis­tence, aware that the mis­sion’s harsh real­i­ties extend beyond the phys­i­cal dan­gers of space. His expe­ri­ences aboard the Drakkar will force him to con­front his own self-worth, the val­ue placed on his life by oth­ers, and the moral chal­lenges that come with being part of a mis­sion that treats him as a mere tool for sur­vival.