She got out of her seat, tucked the laser into her sleeve, and waited inside the airlock. Riki, the academic, entered first, extending a hand as she came through. Hutch took it in both of hers and greeted her with a smile. She squeezed into the back of the lander and sat down.

Korsek reached the foot of the ladder and hesitated. He looked for a long moment at Hutch, who greeted him. “Rakul, Korsek.” He gave no indication of having heard her. Then she realized that he was probably afraid of a vehicle that flew. She mustered the limited Volarian she had at her disposal and told him it was okay, that he would be perfectly safe. And she couldn’t help thinking how that sounded to a guy whose only knowledge about the lander was that it had already crashed once, and she’d been the pilot at the time.

His eyes widened. But he climbed into the airlock, followed by Kwylla, who made no effort to hide her pleasure at seeing Hutch again. They embraced.

Everybody was able to squeeze on board. But it wasn’t going to be comfortable. She closed the hatch and Derek showed them how to secure their belts. “We need a bigger lander,” she said.

He nodded. But everyone seemed okay.

She activated the AG unit and lifted off. The Volarians gasped.

“Take it easy,” said Derek.

She took it up as slowly as the system allowed. They needed a few seconds to clear the trees. Then someone behind her was laughing. Riki.

Hutch circled the temple and turned toward the sea. The hilarity got louder, they started clapping, and even though she couldn’t understand much of the vocabulary, it was easy enough to read the emotions. They were laughing at their own frightened reactions.

And Kwylla started to sing.

•  •  •

The merriment never stopped, and it rapidly became as entertaining a half hour as she could remember behind a set of controls. They soared through clouds, skimmed over the ocean, descended near a sailboat, allowing her passengers to wave while one of the boaters was so startled he, or she, fell overboard. Hutch circled the area until he was hauled safely out of the water.

She took them across the beach, although remaining at a substantial altitude. “We don’t want to startle anyone again,” she told Derek, confident that her passengers understood.

He was about to respond when they all heard something in the rear of the cabin. “Heads up, Hutch,” he said. “Korsek’s out of his seat belt.” An aircraft that depends primarily on antigravity tends to be more subject to wind activity than more primitive vehicles. Hutch did what she could to maintain stability while Derek released his own belt, went back, and got Korsek locked down again. Korsek said he had no idea how it had happened. But he was laughing about it.

And finally, it was time to go home.