The Prometheus Project (Collected Short Stories Book 3)

In the distant future of humankind, an unscrupulous government has embarked on a pogrom of colonization, sending one moon-sized transport after another careening into the cosmic gulf, each dependent utterly upon the one gone before. They are the first in the line and tragedy has befallen them. How far will they go to save their lives and the countless lives that follow?

They're a long way from home, and their starship must rise from the ashes of a terrible conflagration. An insightful short story.