How many sailors do you suppose are in that brig?

Alpha Relentless doesn't look big enough to have a brig nor carry enough crew to make one necessary. Space travel, not to mention asteroid mining, is dangerous enough without having misfits and malcontents to deal with - why not pick a good, trustworthy crew to begin with?

Those two UW Deltas are like the "space torpedoes"; they'll be real when they're seen. Until then, they're just a bluff.

And where do these ships carry all the bloody fuel they must burn so profligately?

Picky, picky, picky. 

Alpha Relentless doesn't look big enough to have a brig nor carry enough crew to make one necessary. Space travel, not to mention asteroid mining, is dangerous enough without having misfits and malcontents to deal with - why not pick a good, trustworthy crew to begin with?

What leads you to believe the Relentless has a brig?

Those two UW Deltas are like the "space torpedoes"; they'll be real when they're seen. Until then, they're just a bluff.

Discretion being the better part of valor, Cap'n Doris wisely decided not to call what may or may not have been a bluff. After all, what sort of treatment could the Hero of the War of the Worlds expect if any UW ships did show up?

And where do these ships carry all the bloody fuel they must burn so profligately?

They use fusion to turn reaction mass (water usually) into plasma and throw that out the back end of the engine really, really fast. The higher the specific impulse, the less reaction mass needed. QED

And how exactly is telling captain Taylor to be quiet about the asteroid going to help? There ARE other miners, many other miners in the belt looking for a good rock. Sooner or later, one or more groups of miners WILL stumble onto it.

Further, UW law doesn't exactly hold much weight in the belt anyway.

Also, how is an asteroid an "artifact?" Does the UW soldier believe it's an artificial construct of some kind?

I don't think the Alpha has ANY sailors in its brig, nor do I think the brig is much bigger, if at all, than a large closet.  In fact, it might BE a closet, repurposed to be a brig when needed.  The threat was to put THEM in the brig, then introduce them to the Alpha's sailors while they were in it.  Not that there were necessarily any sailors under arrest in there already.  The sailors in question would be naughty JAILORS, not naughty fellow INMATES.

Picky, picky, picky. 

Snotty, snotty, snotty

Alpha Relentless doesn't look big enough to have a brig nor carry enough crew to make one necessary. Space travel, not to mention asteroid mining, is dangerous enough without having misfits and malcontents to deal with - why not pick a good, trustworthy crew to begin with?

What leads you to believe the Relentless has a brig?

Um, Captain Darling mentions it on page 320? "Maybe I should burn your laser off its swivel mounts, board your little turd and introduce you to the sailors in the brig."

Those two UW Deltas are like the "space torpedoes"; they'll be real when they're seen. Until then, they're just a bluff.

Discretion being the better part of valor, Cap'n Doris wisely decided not to call what may or may not have been a bluff. After all, what sort of treatment could the Hero of the War of the Worlds expect if any UW ships did show up?

Are we reading the same Webcomic? The UW has already backed down under threat from Ceres once, what makes you think they would destroy a Belter ship with impunity, especially Doris and Fiorella's ship?

And where do these ships carry all the bloody fuel they must burn so profligately?

They use fusion to turn reaction mass (water usually) into plasma and throw that out the back end of the engine really, really fast. The higher the specific impulse, the less reaction mass needed. QED

Right. So you've never operated anything that required more fuel than an automobile, then. We're talking about great distances here.

What leads you to believe the Relentless has a brig?

Um, Captain Darling mentions it on page 320? "Maybe I should burn your laser off its swivel mounts, board your little turd and introduce you to the sailors in the brig."

So what? I don't believe everything (anything) government types say. Do you? I bet you can't wait for the free, high-quality medical care for everyone that Barry has promised. 

It's First Officer Darling, by the way.

Discretion being the better part of valor, Cap'n Doris wisely decided not to call what may or may not have been a bluff. After all, what sort of treatment could the Hero of the War of the Worlds expect if any UW ships did show up?

Are we reading the same Webcomic? The UW has already backed down under threat from Ceres once, what makes you think they would destroy a Belter ship with impunity, especially Doris and Fiorella's ship?

Well, for one thing, I write these stories.  More importantly, the UW navy has proven itself to be impulsive and Doris caught them with their pants down. I would not count on that happening again. Sure, shooting Cap'n Doris could cause trouble later on, But nailing  after she humiliated the Gamma Conqueror, would mean a major career boost for 1st Darling.
 

Right. So you've never operated anything that required more fuel than an automobile, then. We're talking about great distances here.

Does an 18-wheeler count? Did that once with a full load in the mountains while the owner slept. Man, that was a rush. Other than that, you got me, pardner, I don't own a spaceship... yet. However, EFT is in the future. "Desktop" nuclear fusion is cheap, reaction mass is abundant and it's the Delta-V that counts, not the distance, per se. Finally, as Johnny Carson used to say, "Buy the premise, buy the bit." Thanks for playing.

Right. So you've never operated anything that required more fuel than an automobile, then. We're talking about great distances here.

We're talking about OUTER SPACE here. Vehicles don't need to use an accelerator to MAINTAIN speed (like cars on the highway which have to overcome friction). Vehicles in space only use fuel when accelerating to speed, decelerating to stop (relative to some other object) or maneuvering in any form other than following a straight line, or following acceleration due to some kind of gravity well.

The good captain was threatening to commit piracy, put her in the brig and turn his sailors loose on her for a little gang rape.  Says a lot about the caliber of  the UW Sailors and Officers.