He was correct.
“How can you get out without letting that atmosphere in?” Lt. Dish asked.
He shifted his gaze to her, but it was Riina who answered.
“We have a one-person airlock.”
“Those things were in the atmosphere,” Drun said, still managing to sound annoyed.
“They are not human,” Tim said, trying not to sound annoyed. Had they actually been in what contained them? Or had they projected their images? Knowing the answer might not change anything, he concluded. But he did wonder if they’d encounter any of them if they left the shuttle. That was a legitimate concern.
Trac had unstrapped and rose, though he could not attain his full height inside the cockpit. It was more like he unfolded as much of himself as space allowed.
“I will test the outer atmosphere. If it is non-corrosive to your gear, then you can join me,” he said.
As if on some unspoken signal, Fred jumped back onto Lt. Dish’s shoulder. Drun flinched back.
“I am uneasy with this course of action,” Veirn’s fragment said.
“We are all uneasy with it,” Riina said. “But we need to do something.”
“I suppose,” Veirn said. It did not sound convinced.
Tim rose and followed Trac through the hatch to the bay of the shuttle. The airlock was just off the cockpit. The humans—with the exception of Dr. Walker—looked up in alarm at the sudden appearance of the cyborg. Tim wasn’t sure why. They’d seen Trac outside. It had been in the dark, he conceded, and during a tense encounter. The sight of Tim right behind didn’t seem to alleviate much of that alarm. If he’d had time, Tim might have been a little offended by that.
He caught a reflection of himself, with his cyborg eye. Oh. He tended to forget he still had cyborg enhancements that might be unsettling. Did that mean he was getting better at being human? Or just clueless?
He didn’t have an answer for that question, so he wasn’t sorry when Dr. Walker asked one.
“What’s happening?”
Trac ignored him, his attention on preparing the airlock so he could enter it.
Tim opened his mouth. He closed his mouth. He blinked. Then he said, “Drun will explain.”
He heard a muffled snort from behind him and grinned. He glanced back.
Riina had followed them into the bay and was trying not to grin.
Tim noticed that Drun hadn’t followed them into the bay, as Trac opened the airlock and stepped inside. The hatch snapped shut and he heard the hiss of air being sucked out.
He was aware that Dr. Walker had unstrapped and walked over to peer into the cockpit.
“Whoa,” he said. “I did not sign up for that.”
For a few seconds, Tim feared he’d started a rebellion from their passengers. Indeed, they did shift their feet and murmur. But none of them unstrapped. He heard a bird squawk and looked around. It was a relief to realize that Dr. Walker’s side chick didn’t have two heads—one an avian head. He did wonder why they’d brought a bird to meet aliens.
It was possible they didn’t know how to unstrap themselves, but Tim suspected there was an element of not wanting to know what was happening. He did not blame them for this. Knowing wasn’t that great.
Tim heard the outer hatch opening, a sound confirmed by the controls. He stepped up and closed it, then began the process of equalizing it with their side.
“What’s it like out there, Trac,” he asked, when Trac didn’t speak.
Instead of words, he received a file to his implants. He opened and studied the results. There was no question the outer atmosphere was hostile to humans, but it lacked the corrosive power to eat through his gear.
He dropped his faceplate and opened the now-ready airlock.
“Tim.” Riina’s voice was tense.
