Tim didn’t, however, say this out loud. He may be new to being a human, but even he knew it would be a bad idea.
“They might like a hot guy,” Lt. Dish said. “You never know.”
Tim blinked. Who was the hot—oh. He glanced at Riina and she grinned and shrugged.
“She might have a point.”
“I think I should go,” Lt. Dish said.
“Why?” Rinna asked.
“No reason. I’d just like to make first contact. It would be cool.”
This time the look Riina gave him was mixed with humor and wry. It was a good look on her. He wished…
He looked away. “We should call Trac back.”
“What about Dr. Walker?” Lt. Dish sounded alarmed now.
“I will go negotiate with them,” Tim said.
“I need to go, too, but Tim is right. We need Trac back on board.”
Trac could fly the shuttle and protect Lt. Dish if things went south.
Tim sent the recall code to Trac. He probably should have taken time to assess the situation better. Trac turned, possibly in mid-sentence and walked back to the shuttle, humans scattering to clear his path.
No one shot at him. That was a positive.
He unstrapped and found it interesting that Fred transferred to Lt. Dish. She looked startled but also pleased. She reached up and ran a finger down from the top of his head to the tip of his nose. Did this make Fred purr?
He left the cockpit and went to don protective gear, aware that Riina was close behind him. He thought Lt. Dish offered a mild protest. If she had, he ignored her.
Riina rushed to gear up, but he still finished before her. He picked up her headgear and held it out to her. They had both lowered their headgear over their faces before the ramp lowered again for Trac to enter. Tim checked the temperature of the air rushing in and was grateful he was protected.
Trac thumped up the ramp and joined them.
“What is the problem?” he asked.
“We need you to protect the shuttle,” Tim said, “while we try to talk to the humans.” He knew he shouldn’t call them humans, or rather, that he was a human, too, so it might be weird, but it was a hard habit to break.
“Right.” Trac waited by the hatch to the cockpit. He wouldn’t open it until the ramp were up again. The bitter cold rushed in and seemed to fill every inch of the bay. It was interesting that none of the humans attempted to board or even close on the shuttle. He knew this because he had a view from the front of the shuttle playing on one of his implants. They were all still milling around and possibly arguing, based on the erratic movements of their arms.
“It would be better,” he said to Riina, “if you stayed here.” It was futile. He knew this, but he had to try.
“Better for whom?”
He blinked. “For me,” he said, before he could stop himself.
Her eyes widened. “For you? How?”
“I worry,” he admitted.
Her expression softened. “I worry, too. So, we’ll both have to be careful.”
“We are always careful,” he pointed out. “And things still happened.”
She grinned. “True. But we’re still here.” She hesitated, as if she wished to say more, but she didn’t. She turned and headed toward the ramp. It took two strides for him to reach—and then pass her. If he couldn’t stop her, then he could shield her.
